


What's it like in the cold?

by Crystal_Rose_Witch



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Caretaking, Comfort, Developing Relationship, First Kiss, Getting to Know Each Other, Hospitalization, Illness, M/M, Mention of blood, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Other additional characters to be added, Rating May Change, Serious Injuries, Sharing a Bed, Shin is a mess, but he means well, exploring the moon, mentions of SIVA crisis, moon hive are poisonous, questionable medications
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-24
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-01-02 13:11:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 43,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21162191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crystal_Rose_Witch/pseuds/Crystal_Rose_Witch
Summary: Shin Malphur's been injured. After being rescued by the guardian he has to come to terms with modern guardian life while facing his past and the cold.There are things that years can't make better.





	1. Chapter 1

The moon was the last place he expected to be wandering around. Filled with nightmares, floating faces that seemed to turn and look at you no matter where you were, and disembodied screams were enough to make even the hardened lone gunslinger want to turn on his heels and walk the other way.

After one particular cave whereas Shin got close enough to the opening, he could hear someone screaming for help and to not be left alone in there the light-bearer just noped the fuck out, turned and walked the opposite direction. If he wasn’t chasing a rumor from his ghost that a certain dredgen was seen there he wouldn’t have bothered with this hive infested hunk of space rock, but now here he was, looking through the entirety of the moon’s surface for a nightmare that looked like someone from his past.

At the top of a particularly steep incline Shin poked his head up over the ridge to scout the area below, spotting three knights, at least five acolytes, and who knew how many thrall. Not his favorable odds so he tried to ease his way down the slope he had climbed up when the ground under his feet started shaking before crumbling under him, sending him down into one of the many caves that now littered the lunar surface. He didn’t register much after that except for the hot, sudden pain that ripped through his body. What had happened he wasn’t sure but it hurt like hell and he could hear his ghost in the back of his mind telling him not to move at all and not to scream in pain. Shin wasn’t sure if he had ever heard the ghost sound so concerned but he did his best to obey the construct.

He laid there for what felt like centuries; being as still and as quiet as he could to avoid being found by the hive. Could they smell blood? He wasn’t sure but the sound of approaching footsteps, mixed with the occasional gunshot from a hand cannon, made him hold his breath and close his eyes. He didn’t want to see this if this was how he was going to die for the last time.

The footsteps slowed to a cautious sneak, slick with the squish of hive matter under their boots, “Hello? Is there someone here? We received your distress beacon” He opened his eyes at that one. His ghost had been signaling for help the whole time? They could have told him but did they? No. No, they didn’t. With his luck, he would be found by a freshly risen guardian with no idea about how anything worked. A warlock eventually poked its head around the corner, hand cannon at the ready to shoot pretty much anything but they lowered it once they spotted him, “a guardian…” The warlock sounded like they couldn’t believe that this was what they would find; a guardian run through with a knight’s sword, “Stay still okay? I can try and break the sword off…but I’m not sure how that will go…” Sword? It made sense now as to why his ghost told him not to move. He was impaled on a sword, a knight sword apparently, but that was the least of his concern as Shin shifted his eyes to follow the guardian as it knelt beside him.

The warlock opened a healing rift under the both of them before they started examining the wound, “Clean through, might be breakable though…” He grabbed the sword with one hand, pulling his own off of his back with the other, and gouged a nice groove the width of the blade on both sides, “Okay, this might hurt but I’m going to break the sword now, bear with me okay?” Shin didn’t get much time to answer. Not like he really could with the constant radiating pain in his chest which got worse as he felt the sharp snap of the blade breaking, “Okay, you’re free but not out of the woods…and my rift won’t last much longer…” The warlock paused for a minute before making an executive decision about the hunter’s well being, “come on, I’m take you back to my ship.”

After a little hesitation and trying to figure out how he could lift the hunter without causing much harm to him the Warlock shifted one arm under the hunter’s knees and the other one behind his back, below where the sword was located. Shin didn’t think that this warlock of all people would be able to pick him up but he was proven very wrong when he was lifted off the ground fairly easily, causing him to put an arm around his rescuer’s neck for stability. Casting a glance up, Shin couldn’t see anything through the visor of the other’s helmet but the familiar, weightlessness of the transmat taking effect was worth more of his attention. Letting his eyes fall closed Shin held his breath again as they transmatted to the warlock’s ship. Opening his eyes yet again he looked about the best he could without moving his head much. The ship was bigger than he had been expecting, an Arcadia class by the style of the interior and the layout, not a bad looking ship and it probably served this guardian well.

His rescuer took him to what was essentially his sleeping quarters and laid him on the bed, avoiding putting pressure on the sword protruding from the hunter’s back. He left the room then, coming back with the most advanced medical kit his ship had, “I don’t need these supplies really…They do me no good at all…” He stopped and looked at the armor that was obstructing his ability to take care of the hunter, “Can your ghost transmat the armor off? I’d hate to have to destroy that, it looks like a really nice set,” His ghost seemed to take the hint as he got rid of Shin’s armor but didn’t stray from his guardian’s side, “That’s better…it looks like the poison is what’s keeping it from healing…” The ghost gave him a questionable look but the warlock ignored it, “do you want me to try and remove the sword? You have your ghost here so in case something goes wrong but…” the guardian shuddered slightly, “Hive poison…the moon’s hive has the worst of it…not so bad on Mars, they’ll just freeze you to death…and Titan isn’t really mentionable…” Helping Shin to sit up more the warlock made sure he was comfortable, holding him as steady as possible.

The thought of this guardian trying to remove the sword piece from his body was not one that the light-bearer was willing to entertain but no sooner had he started thinking to tell him no he felt himself go numb with void energy. That was certainly a different way to use the void but it also made his vision hazy so he couldn’t see much of anything, “W..what…are you?…” How much he could be heard he wasn’t sure since his voice felt rough and scratchy. The warlock looked up to him though and nodded, holding up the piece of the sword just as his vision started clearing, “You…removed it?…” again the warlock nodded before placing the sword down on a piece of fabric to start cleaning and dressing the wound. The sword was broader at one end than it was at the other, probably why it didn’t hurt as bad when he removed it if he pulled it out so the thinner part was the part that was passing through his body. Shin stared at the warlock as it quietly worked, no wasted words after the one-sided conversation that happened.

Soon the warlock was finished and headed back up to the cockpit of his ship, presumably to leave the hunter to have some time to himself. Resting back against the pillows Shin looked to his ghost who was still beside him, “where do you suppose he’s taking us?” The construct looked at him before floating closer, its eye focused more on Shin’s injury and why it couldn’t fully heal him, “Do you think moon hive poison is the worst? It’s something I have never thought to stop and actually think about,” Of course he never thought they would reopen the moon to exploration against either. This was a guardian though, and there was only one place a guardian really lived and that was the Last City. Groaning Shin put his head back and stared at the ceiling, at least this guardian didn’t seem to have an idea of who he was.


	2. Chapter 2

He must have fallen asleep. One minute Shin could feel the vibration of the ship’s engine and the next everything was quiet and he was laying on something warm and soft. Everything hurt, it seemed his body only existed to hurt at the moment. Willing his eyes open Shin stared at the ceiling; dark, off blue, accented by bright fabrics greeted him, feeling like pins and needles to his eyes. Groaning the hunter covered his eyes with his arm and tried to take a deep breath but the pain shooting through his chest brought back what had happened.

“Where am I?” Shin squeezed his eyes shut as the memories of what had happened came flooding back to him. The moon, the hive then pain and not much else; hazy fragments involving after the warlock saved him and took him aboard his ship. The warlock…Shin pushed himself up into more of a sitting position despite how much his body protested and looked around the best he was able. The bedroom was empty aside from him and his ghost, “Hello?” It was slightly unnerving how his voice echoed slightly despite everything in the room with him but when he heard no movement outside what he presumed was the bedroom door Shin felt it safe to assume that he was alone.

Throwing the covers off of himself Shin tried to move to put his feet on the floor, “Where do you think you’re going?” For once his ghost made a notion to try and stop him even if it was just questioning what the hunter was doing. Shin, however, ignored his ghost and tried to push himself to his feet, “Don’t do that. You’re in no condition to stand let alone move!” All ghost could do was try to dull the pain as the hunter stubbornly pushed himself to his feet to only swear at a particularly sharp shock of pain tore through his chest and made him half sit half fall back onto the bed, “See? Now get back in bed and try to wait for them to come back. I’ll go check the rest of the living space,” Ghost looked him over as Shin got himself rearranged back in the bed before disappearing through the door.

He searched the apartment for any sign of where the other guardian went and was just finishing scanning some papers on the table when the front door opened, “Ghost. If you’re away from the hunter I take it he’s awake?” The ghost spun to look at the door as the warlock closed it behind him, his own ghost floating off to his right side, “How’s he doing?” The guardian set their bags on the counter in the kitchen area before heading for the bedroom with both ghosts following him. Apparently whatever was driving Shin to not stay in bed was stronger than the pain he was feeling because he tried to get up again just as the warlock came through the door, “Hey what do you think you’re doing?!” If it hadn’t been for the warlock’s blink movement Shin would have fallen flat on his face but instead, he ended up in the warlock’s arms, “You’re a stubborn one, aren’t you? Tell me where you’re trying to go and maybe I can help you,” The hunter looked between him and the door, not the far wall a few times, a little too proud to say what was wrong but the warlock was more intuitive than Shin gave him credit for being, “That door over there is the bathroom, that’s where you’re headed? The bathroom?” He nodded before the warlock shifted him so he was supported to try walking again.

The door may have only been a few feet away but it felt like a mile when Shin couldn’t walk on his own yet. The Hive poison must have been some sort that messed with more than his body’s ability to heal but with the help of his companion, if Shin could call him that, he was able to make it to where he wanted or needed to go. For all he could say about the new guardians the warlock at least let him have the dignity of privacy until he was done, then it was back to the bed which he wasn’t too pleased about but Shin didn’t really have the capabilities to argue much otherwise, “Why don’t you take your helmet off?” He wasn’t sure why he was asking; he was just as guilty of walking around day and night with his helmet on but this was the guy’s own home yet he still walked around with his helmet on? “I mean…I understand if you don’t want to…I’ve been there before…” The warlock studied him for a minute before reaching up, undoing his helmet, and letting his ghost take it away from his hands.

It took everything Shin had not to stare at the guardian as he took his helmet off. It was an Exo, not the last thing he had been expecting but he could see the uncertainty in the warlock’s face, “My name’s Jack…and this is my ghost, Spades,” his reddish-brown eyes locked with the white optics and he swore he could see more emotion in the Exo than he read in most people but he didn’t get to question anything as the Exo got to his feet, “I got some soup for you…I didn’t know what you liked so I got miso soup…” He left Shin alone in the bedroom again only to come back a few minutes later with some soup on a tray, “Don’t worry if you can’t eat all of it. Just try to get some of it into you, even if it’s just the broth,” Shin accepted the tray from him, settling it on his lap and stirring the soup with a spoon as Jack settled in a chair with a tray of his own.

The soup was better than most of what the hunter had been eating lately as he picked up small spoonfuls of broth and sipped them down. He couldn’t help watching the guardian as the Exo ate his ramen. Never had he seen an Exo eat, he didn’t even know they could eat but he certainly could so he figured the rest of them could. Soon dinner was over as Shin couldn’t eat much of the soup without feeling like he was going to be sick so Jack had taken it and said he could have more later when he felt like he wasn’t going to lose his lunch. The pain in his chest was becoming unbearable as he rested back against the pillows, a soft yet agonized groan escaping him, “Are you hurting?” The warlock’s brow plates knitted together in the slightest movement of concern, “I think I have something to give you for pain. Let me check,” He got to his feet again and headed to the bathroom to check what he had in the way of pain medication for the hunter, coming back eventually with a bottle of something brown, “Okay here we go. It’s a pain reliever that is from the City,” Jack set the bottle down and look to him, making sure he was settled against the pillows.

Shin took the spoon that the Exo held out to him and watched with curious nerves as the Exo poured the brownish-red liquid into the spoon, “What…is this?” If he hadn’t been in such inhuman pain the hunter might have refused it but the pain was to the point that he could barely see straight so he took the spoon and downed the liquid, grimacing at the acrid taste, “thank…you…” Settling back against the pillows Shin let his mind wander as the pain medication started to take effect but ten to fifteen minutes later he was completely passed out, leaving his ghost to watch over him for the rest of the night as the Warlock left to go meet with his fire team members.

This was going to be interesting to see how Shin would be once he wasn’t in pain but it seemed he would also be on stand by for a potential revive if smell that lingered in the room from the medicine was enough of an indicator, “Shin…please be okay…I don’t what that was he gave you but…please…I would hate to have to revive you from this…” The ghost settled on the pillow beside him; this was going to be a long night, for both of them.


	3. Chapter 3

Waking up the next more felt worse than anything Shin had experienced so far; his head hurt, he felt nauseous, and the room refused to stop spinning, “You’re alive…thank the traveler you’re still alive!” The sound of his ghosts voice in his head and outside of it was enough to make him want to pull the blankets up over his head and stay there, “I don’t know what he gave you last night but you didn’t move after you fell asleep,” Ghost scanned him then shook it’s eye, “Never accept that stuff again…I don’t know what that was…” For not being his, to begin with, ghost cared and reacted like how he thought most ghosts did when something happened to their guardian and got fed up with a lot of the shit the hunter did.

Shin only poked his head out from under the blankets when the room darkened as ghost pulled the curtains closed more, “Thank…you…ghost,” Why was his voice so loud? Was he always that loud? He blinked a few times to try and get adjusted when he heard a door open then close but he was in too much pain to worry about it. He made the mistake of trying to get up though as the world pitched up then down, making the gunslinger end up on his knees, retching on the floor beside the bed. He had never been this powerless before and the vomiting wasn’t helping the pain in his chest any but all his ghost could do was stay near his side after making sure he had a trashcan or something to puke into.

That sound though got the attention of whoever was in the apartment as the footsteps kept getting closer and closer to the door, “You in here hotshot?” Shin froze at the sound of the voice, a voice he knew all too well. Getting to his feet he took a seat on the bed and held his breath as the door handle moved, the lock clicking as the door opened. Ghost transmatted the blanket that was draped over the foot of the bed around his guardian, making sure he was warm and safe before turning to face the door as it opened.

The sound of a box of some sort hitting the floor made Shin flinch and cover his ears, a weak whimper escaping as the sound seemed to reverberate inside his head, “…malphur? Shin fuckin’ Malphur?” The voice belonged to none other than the man he knew as the Drifter but with as bad as he felt Shin didn’t bother trying to face him. He was unarmed, injured and nowhere near capable of holding his own against the rogue light-bearer. He could hear his ghost trying to reason with the other man, telling him that Shin was injured and in no way capable of being a threat at the moment but he drifter didn’t seem to believe it as he came closer, only stopping in his tracks when he saw the bloody vomit on the floor and in the trashcan, “Shit…what happened to ya that ‘yer pukin’ up that?” He had never heard that kind of concern in the other man’s voice before but then again, the only other times they crossed paths guns were involved and someone was going to get shot. The Drifter grimaced at the mess around Shin’s feet as he inched closer, but clearly, something was wrong with the gunslinger. Taking a seat on the foot of the bed the Drifter spotted the bandages wrapped around Shin’s torso when the gunslinger moved, “Ya got injured…what per se, could hurt the man with the golden gun?” There was no missing the underlying malice in the Drifter’s voice as he all but forced the statement out.

Shin blinked a few times as if not catching the biting line the first time, “Hive sword on the moon…got myself impaled, poisoned… Ghost can’t heal with the amount of poison in my system,” He made a vague motion to the wrapped up sword piece now sitting on the dresser, “was rescued by a Warlock who lives in this apartment…he removed the sword while we were on his ship,” The act of talking while trying to hold himself upright was taking more out of the gunslinger than he thought it would so he shifted back under the covers, hissing at the burning ache that felt like he was going to be ripped in two, “If you want to kill me, now would be the time to do it…end my suffering…” A coughing fit cut off whatever else the hunter had to say but when he came back to his senses it wasn’t hard to miss the glimmer of concern in the Drifter’s eyes that was buried under the cold anger.

The Drifter shook his head despite the Malfeasance being on the back of his belt, “I’m not about to kill an injured, unarmed man. No matter how much I hate ya I have more honor than that,” The tense nature of the air was enough to suffocate someone, not what either of them really wanted but there was too much bad blood between them for there not to be a tense situation until the Drifter thought to change the subject, “You smell like some of the seedier bars in the city, the hell you been drinkin’?”

Shin didn’t answer for a minute before making another vague gesture to the bottle and spoon that now sat on the desk on the far side of the room, “Warlock…named Jack…gave me some of that last night. Ghost said it put me out hard…no idea what it was but it was acrid and I swear I tasted the light…” The more he spoke the wider the Drifter’s eyes got until the man got up from his seat at the foot of the bed and went to get the bottle to see what could knock out the hunter.

Holding the bottle in both hands like it was going to bite him the Drifter opened the top and sniffed it, gagging before putting the lid back on, coughing, “Let’s see…every fluid once contains alcohol…cannabis…chloroform…and morphine…” He closed his mouth and read the main ingredients again to make sure he had read it right, “take one tablespoon three times daily as needed for pain and cough…” The rogue light-bearer looked between the bottle and the hunter sitting against the pillows in the bed, “No wonder you are like this! This would down the strongest guardians probably.” Dropping the bottle back down the Drifter went to get a cup of water from the kitchen, coming back with that and a bottle of pain killers, “Not sure if ya can take these…but it’ll certainly help with whatever pain your feelin’” After handing over the cup of water the Drifter resumed his seat on the foot of the bed, “I wasn’t plannin’ on hangin ‘round if he wasn’t here but…” He looked the hunter over again before sighing and running a hand over his face, “You look like shit.” The short, crass end of his statement would have made Shin laugh had to be not been in pain but he just made a sound of acknowledgment, not even bothering with offering him his favorite finger.

Shin finished his water and set the glass in his lap, “It..hurts…” The drifter turned his attention to the gunslinger, the snide remark on the tip of his tongue dying when he spotted the blood soaking through the bandages around the hunter’s chest, “hurts…” The words slipped past the hunter’s lips before he could stop them but it was true, he was in pain and couldn’t handle it. His ghost floated around him, it's shell shifting nervously before drifter caught the sound of a message being sent.

He had no idea where the warlock was but he stayed by the hunter’s side even when he heard the door open then close followed by hurried footsteps, “Hunter?” Jack opened the bedroom door, closing it behind himself before turning to look for the Hunter. His optics went right past the Drifter like he wasn’t even perched on the foot of the bed but the Drifter sure didn’t miss the warlock’s armor set. He was wearing a full set of Gambit Prime Reaper armor, all notorious to boot. It was something he hadn’t seen the guardian in before but he got completely bypassed by the warlock, “What happened?” The clear disregard for the bile all over his bedroom floor was evident as he took a seat on the edge of the bed, “You know what, you can try and explain it after I fix you up,” Jack turned and looked at the Drifter, "Since you're here you might as well make yourself useful. In the linens closet, on the top shelf, should be a container of medical bandages. Can you bring them to me?” Spades floated over to the door, waiting for the Drifter who reluctantly got to his feet and followed, “She’ll show you where they are.” Turning his attention back to the hunter Jack started undoing the bandages, calmly lecturing the hunter about not opening the wounds while they were trying to heal and the ramifications that this could cause. Not like Shin was listening, the pain he was feeling was enough to make him nearly delirious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The ingredients on the bottle of medication Shin was given by Jack is based on a picture on Pinterest.


	4. Chapter 4

Exiting the bedroom Drifter picked up the box he had dropped and kicked out of his way, checking the curated Trust over before setting it on the table and following the ghost to the closet, “Box of medical bandages…” He looked the shelves over, not seeing a box at all until Spades illuminated something above his head. It was a plain, nondescript white metal box with a thin metal handle; he recognized it as an old vanguard medical kit box. The thing sat just out of his reach so he looked to the ghost after not seeing anything to bring the box forward with. Without a word being said Spades got up behind the box and nudged it off the shelf and into the Drifter’s hands, “Thanks…” He exited the closet, closing the door as Spades disappeared back to her guardian’s side.

Opening the door Drifter paused as he caught the sight of what the wound looked like. It was roughly six inches long, right down the middle of the hunter’s sternum bone and it looked nasty; red and painful as blood lazily seeped from the now open areas, “Looks like you really screwed yourself over,” That snapped the drifter back to his awareness as he made his way over to the bed with the box, “Thank you Drifter,” Jack opened the box with one hand while keeping pressure on Shin’s wound with the other one, “Think you could be an extra pair of hands to help with this? I don’t expect you to touch the wound, just hand me what I ask for to take care of him,” Jack glanced from box to him before finally looking to the hunter, “think you can do that?” He must have been asking because of how Drifter was coming across verbally and through his mannerisms, but Shin just cast a glance over to his ghost, who’s eye looked him over cautiously as the worry for his wellbeing became more and more evident.

The Drifter dumbly nodded and set the box down on the bed beside the warlock, “What do you need of me?” Jack looked over to him then motioned to the box, giving a very clear and accurate description of the gauze padding he needed, “Is this safe to be doing without medical professionals around?” When had the Drifter actually cared that much about the hunter that was getting taken care of? This was the same man who had come close to killing him on multiple occasions but he handed the Exo what he asked for from the kit before pulling his hands back into his lap. He could have said no, should have said no to helping him, the warlock probably would have understood and not held it against him but something in him just couldn’t say no to the man and his ghost. Not when they were one of the best duos he had seen for guardian and ghost; Jack hardly relied on his ghost to heal him, preferring instead to handle minor and somewhat bigger injuries on his own, only asking his ghost for help when it was critical, such as the case when he had been shot point-blank with a Thorn during a Gambit Prime match and the Drifter respected that.

The warlock shook his head as if to ignore what he might have deemed a stupid question, “Probably not, but the people of the infirmary don’t seem to understand how to handle a guardian that has been hurt like this…they don’t understand that they need to manage the damage done to the light as well as the physical body,” He motioned to Shin then to his ghost, “If left unchecked Ikora said that hive poison can actually infect the ghost through their connection to the guardian much the same way a Vex connection could infect the ghost if an Exo came into contact with one,” Of course he had gone to Ikora, no one else was as knowledgeable about these things as the warlock vanguard was. Finished with packing the wound Jack proceeded to wrap the wound with a clean dressing, “can you help him sit forward?” Casting another glance to the Drifter the warlock sighed, “It’s the most I’ll ever ask you to touch him, I just need to be able to wrap the dressing all the way around his torso.” After a pause, Jack continued his thought, “And check how the wound in his back is healing.” Again the Drifter was being given the option to say no but yet again he found himself as being unable to.

There was just something about the warlock he just couldn’t say no to so he moved around to the other side of the bed, holding his hand out to Shin, “Hey brother, give me your hand,” The hunter looked up at the use of the false familiarity, but seemed to fail to understand what he was being told to do as he just blankly stared at the Drifter so he reached over, grabbing the hunter’s hand, and pulling him towards him gently, “you need to sit forward, that’s what he wants ya to do, ya idiot,” After the second time of being told what to do Shin seemed to be getting it and tried his best to hold himself upright though he started to fall to the side. Eventually, Jack managed to finish the dressing so Shin could relax back against the pillows again.

Leaving Shin to rest Jack gathered up the used supplies and took them to the utility room, looking back over his shoulder as the Drifter followed him, “I appreciate your help, Drifter…” He smiled softly bak at the rogue light-bearer as he set the stuff down on the counter, “You didn’t have to help me with that, with him, but you did and I respect that,” That made the Drifter stop and look at Jack as he started cleaning the supplies up, getting rid of what was too soiled to sanitize in a bag that was burnable, “I know you seem to have some bad blood with him…but thank you for helping me with taking care of him,”

The Drifter looked back towards the door then to the Exo again, sticking his hands in his pockets and giving a nod before turning to leave, “Gotta get back to the Gambit…see you around brother.” Jack saw him off at the door before going back to continue what he was doing.

Having finished that the warlock went back and sat as Shin’s bedside, periodically checking his vitals but before getting to his feet and cleaning the mess on the floor up with wet rags and soap, throwing all of it into the washing machine on a quick cycle. Finishing that up Jack had Spades send a message to his team’s hunter about fixing a set of armor. He knew he could fix it himself but hunters had sapphire wire and that was something the armor set had that he didn’t. Returning to the bedroom Jack cast a glance to the chunk of sword on the dresser still, “Wonder if Zaazi would be interested in it…she might make it into some knives…” A gentle click got his attention as he looked back towards the bed to see the ghost still watching him. The construct didn’t seem really trust him but that wasn’t as important as keeping this guardian alive long enough to let the ghost be able to heal him then they would part ways.

The apartment was quiet as the warlock flitted around, cleaning the place up, making some food for when the hunter woke up and changing the laundry over. After changing from his gambit armor into a more simple set that he kept for kicking around the house he went to check on the guardian again, seeing him awake and looking around the room, “When can I leave?” It was a rough question but he wanted to know. Shin felt he was being a burden to the warlock since this was clearly the guardian’s own bedroom.

Jack studied him and shook his head, “Not for a while if what just happened was an indication of your condition…” Adjusting the pillows he made sure Shin was comfortable, “you might be down for a week.” That was the last thing the gunslinger wanted to hear but with no explanation for how to get out of it in sight, he laid back and tried to fight back the restless feeling he was getting. He wasn’t used to being tied down that long and the fact he couldn’t do much if anything for himself was wearing on the hunter and he was yearning to get back out into the field and on with his hunting. As soon he was left to his own devices again as the warlock left to go make dinner for himself and Shin but Shin was starting to devise a plan to get out of there. It wasn’t that he was grateful he just felt like he was overstaying his welcome.


	5. Chapter 5

Shin was left in the apartment on his own again the next day while the warlock was out running Nightfall strikes for the Vanguard. Jack made it a habit to let him know what he was going to be doing and when he expected to be home. He was supposed to be gone for the whole day or at least until after lunchtime. He made sure Shin had food that was easy to eat and warm up even though Shin just warmed it with the solar light of his hands.

Today was going to be the day, he had been down for two days straight trying to heal and now he was going to get back to what he had been doing originally. He donned a set of armor his ghost begrudgingly gave him and checked for his weapons before leaving. He paused only temporarily to scrawl out a note to Jack, thanking him for taking care of him but he signed it with just a single S. as he did for all those other messages. The door clicked closed quietly behind him as he left. The apartment block was quiet but his ghost let him know what he was doing was wrong, that he was being inconsiderate, and that he rarely wished ill on his guardian but he hoped something would happen so he would learn his lesson. Shin stopped listening after a while, hurriedly making his way out of the block and towards the annex, a place where he hoped no one would see him leave.

Shin didn’t count for how strenuous the whole walking up and downstairs was on the body but he managed to make it down the stairs to the Annex without falling flat on his face so he figured he could do anything despite what his ghost thought. The closer he got to the landing pad the worse Shin started to feel. Glancing to the side Shin caught sight of the Drifter down a corridor, flipping jade coins into a bowl while he idled around, waiting for Guardians to come to see him. Sometimes he swore that this was a hologram, a false Drifter while the real one was on the Derelict.

Shaking that thought from his mind Shin crept past the doorway so he wasn’t seen and continued on his way. He could see the landing platform but a sudden pain in his chest stopped him in his tracks. He felt the thick fluid in his throat, gagging him to the point he had to take his helmet off, “Shin, please…This isn’t good. You’re pushing yourself too far too fast! Just because I said could heal the most of your internal damage doesn’t mean you are clear to leave!” Ghost was bugging him in the back of his mind, but he ignored him and tried to keep going only to collapse to his knees, coughing blood all over the floor, “Shin!”

He couldn’t make out anything else his ghost was saying over his coughing. When he opened his eyes the gunslinger couldn’t help but stare in horror at the crimson covering his hand and the floor in front of him. Shin’s vision started to go black at the edges, making him barely able to register his ghost off to his side as it flitted about worriedly before leaving him to go find someone to help.

The Drifter was finishing up giving a group of guardians their weekly rewards for playing gambit almost religiously. To see a lone ghost come into the hall caught all the guardian’s attention but the Drifter’s eyes widened slightly as he recognized the shell, only one guardian had a shell-like that for their ghost, “Ghost…” The guardians all looked to each other before shuffling out of the hallway, headed for the bazaar, “Where is he?” Without another word the ghost turned and headed back the way it had come, only this time the Drifter was following it.

To say he wasn’t anxious was a bit of a lie. Shin, despite how much the Drifter hated him, he may have actually meant something at one point, back when he was still Wu Ming and Shin was the Renegade. Pulling himself from his thoughts he rounded the corner to see Shin still on his knees, “Hey, hey Malphur…” Comforting and care was not his strong suit but to see the man with the golden gun on his knees in blood like this was something else. Gingerly his put his hand to the hunter’s shoulder, trying to keep him stable as he looked back to the ghost, “What happened?” His first guess was that one of his dredgen spotted him, recognized Shin, and attacked but there was no other guardian around and no sign that Shin had even fought back which was highly unlikely for the hunter.

Unable to think what else would cause this Drifter looked at Shin’s ghost, blue eyes hard as he tried to keep himself in check, “You have the feed for that warlock’s ghost right?” The ghost nodded slightly, “Get. a hold. of him.” The venom of his words betrayed the concern in his eyes as he pulled out a spare scrap of jade fabric from his robe, kneeling down in front of the hunter and pulling Shin’s hood up to keep his head covered, You’re a real idiot, ya know that?!” His biting words drew Shin’s barely conscious attention, ‘You’re injured! The hell were you thinking?!” Putting his knuckles under the hunter’s jaw he tipped Shin’s head up to get a better look at him before attempting to wipe some of the blood off of his face only to end up smearing it instead, “Idiot!” Letting the hunter lean up against him as he waited for a reply from the Ghost that he had contacted the warlock. The wait for a response was stifling as the Drifter tried in vain to help the hunter, “You know what, fuck it. Come on…you’re out in the open and vulnerable…” This was pushing the Drifter so far out of his element he wasn’t sure what was happening but he pulled the hunter up to his feet, only slightly ignoring the grunt of pain that escaped Shin, and led him into a hallway most didn’t know was there, supporting the hunter the best he could without putting too much pressure on the injured man.

The hallway was out of the way of the prying eyes of the guardians and pretty discrete as a place to keep Shin safely tucked away from view while still working the Gambit till the warlock showed up. There was the problem of the blood though that was all over the floor near the landing platform. It was bright red, noticeable, and would certainly cause concern for any guardian that came in through there. It took another hour for Jack to get back to Shin’s ghost with a message asking what was wrong, to which the Drifter responded with a short yet biting answer about Shin being an idiot. Jack arrived after another half hour, smelling of sulfur, fire, and cabal oil, “What is it this time?” He was smoothing his hand over the Zeno phase robe he was wearing. It looked like he was checking his appearance out of vanity but the Drifter knew what he was doing, had seen him do it before following a gambit match, he was checking his robe for damage that needed repairing.

He wasn’t alone though, his fire team had accompanied him this time, the titan in metallic red and white, clearly, a crucible line-up, and the hunter holding to true hunter fashion was the gaudiest of them all in white, maroon, and gold. The Drifter took a step back after pointing him toward where Shin was, opting to watch how the other two guardians responded to this situation, “What happened to you this time?” The warlock was kneeling down in front of Shin checking him over before flicking the hunter in the side of the helmet, “I would start chewing you out but you’re suffering enough as is…” Keeping his eyes on the guardians behind the warlock the Drifter learned a few things about this fire team that he occasionally saw in the gambit as a unit. The hunter was checking the surrounding area for threats to the wounded guardian and he could see void light forming around the titan's hands, signaling that at least one of them had an active super available, “What were you thinking huh?” Jack wasn’t getting an answer from Shin so he just groaned in annoyance at the hunter’s condition before getting to his feet.

By now his team hunter had returned from yet another check of the surrounding area but the Drifter had an idea that he was being seen by the other two guardians as a suspect, especially that hunter who kept eyeing him suspiciously, “Whatever it is you’re thinkin’ hunter, I didn’t do anything to’im” The fact that he felt he had to defend himself against an unspoken threat that he was responsible for Shin’s injury but it was enough to make his warlock’s hunter back off their hand cannon. His warlock? There was thought he hadn’t had in a long while, claiming the Exo was his and no one else’s. Chasing that train of thought away he focused on the warlock now in front of him, “Yeah? What can I do for ya brother?” Even with a helmet on Drifter was sure the Exo had an exasperated expression as he made an equally exasperated gesture with his hands. First, he motioned to Shin, then to the landing area, then to the Drifter himself before throwing his arms out to the sides in a confused gesture, “What happened?” Jack nodded, wanting the Drifter to keep talking, “Well, I was in here dealing the Gambit and his ghost came, had me follow it to where Shin was in that puddle of blood near the platform. I brought him to where he is now after checking to see if he had gotten in a scuffle with another guardian then had his ghost call you.” He was telling all as it happened and the warlock seemed to understand that but it made the Drifter start to wonder if any of them actually knew who this was they were dealing with.

Shaking his head the warlock remove this helmet, “He needs to go to the infirmary…I’ve done as much as I can with my abilities but he needs medical help now,” He turned to his ghost, requesting an immediate notification to be sent to the infirmary.That scared the Drifter slightly; no one knew Shin was in the tower, if he went to the infirmary then they would know he was here, “ Is there a name we can sign him in under?”

The question snapped the rogue lightbearer form his thoughts but only raised another one right in their place; he couldn’t give them his name, he knew he couldn’t so Drifter took a deep breath to steel his nerves, “Zyre Orsa…if he has to go to the infirmary sign him in as Zyre Orsa, got it?” With a nod of their heads, one of them sent another message to the infirmary about a wounded guardian and they took him away, Drifter didn’t even get a chance to tell Shin good-bye.


	6. Chapter 6

Drifter waited till Gambit was over for the day then an hour after that before he went to visit Shin in the infirmary. He dressed as discretely as he could in hunter armor, shaded in muted greens and black, a set of ancient apocalypse armor from head to foot just in a different shader.

The sign by the door said Zyre Orsa, the name he had told them to give for Shin though he wasn’t expecting to find Jack sitting in a chair beside Shin’s bed, holding the hunter’s hand, “How is he?” Though he kept his voice down to hopefully not wake the hunter up it was clear Shin had been sedated, this was most likely his least favorite thing in the world right now so sedation was probably the easiest way they could treat him.

The warlock looked up, a weak smile was the best he could afford as he glanced again to Shin’s vitals, “I thought….I thought I could save him…help him…there was only so much I could do…he nearly died because I couldn’t help him enough…” The Drifter wanted so bad to hit Shin for this but deep inside he knew this wasn’t Shin’s fault. It was a perfect storm, a set of events that arose from several factors. It was all sheer luck was what it was that led to all of this.

Gently his fingers brushed Jack’s shoulder, “s’not your fault…no one…not even those inter-dimensional beings could have seen this coming…but…” His gaze flitted over Shin’s unconscious features, “He’ll need help coming back from this…he doesn’t think he will need it but he will…” The warlock nodded but didn’t take his eyes off of Shin’s figure.

It was getting late, he had most likely canceled anything he was doing either that night or the next day, “This…would be a horrible way to end him…the original gunslinger…” Drifter’s fingers tensed on his shoulder as Jack looked up to him, “This is Shin Malphur…” He motioned to the ghost that was hiding now away from the Drifter’s sight, “His ghost said he had to come clean about who I had been taking care of…told me who he was and what he had been doing when I found him on the moon…” Shin was none the wiser that his ghost had gone and sold him out to a partner of the Drifter of all people but he was none the wiser and his ghost felt it was for the best,” Ghost now appeared back above his hiding spot, eyeing them with caution. Jack motioned to him that he was safe but he still sucked back behind his hiding spot, presumably hiding from the Drifter more than anything else, “When he’s released he’s going to be going back to my apartment…I have a spare bedroom that can be cleaned up…as far as anyone else is aware he’s a new member of our clan that just joined us…” The Drifter guessed he could have been fortunate that Jack was willing to keep Shin’s identity a secret but how would Shin adapt to modern guardian life?

That was a thought that hadn’t occurred to him as he watched Shin sleep. He was going to be adapted into modern guardian life, gonna have to learn the mannerisms and whatnot that made modern guardians, not the old ways of things that Shin was used to, that they were both used to “Did they say when he will be able to be released?” The warlock shook his head, halfheartedly saying something about it being a week before Shin is released but they aren’t sure as he wasn’t in the best condition when he arrived, “Will…he be okay?” It was a loaded question, they both knew it but it was a valid concern of how he would adapt.

Drifter ran his hands back through his hair, turning away from the hunter in the bed and heading for the door, “I’m going for some fresh air…” He looked back to Jack who kept his eyes trained on him, “Care’ta join me?” At that, the warlock nodded and got to his feet to follow the Drifter.

They walked in silence for a while, the Drifter having replaced his helmet so as not to be recognized by anyone else. Jack kept his hands in the pockets of his robes, looking anywhere but at the man next to him. Soon they made it to a small manmade pond near the infirmary that was used as a rehab area, “Jack…I don’t…” The Drifter stalled on his words; trying to decide what would be best to say. This was all so far out of his element that he wasn’t sure what to do really, “Don’t beat yourself up over it…you trie the best you could…sometimes even with your best efforts…things don’t always go the way we plan,” This wasn’t coming out how he was thinking it would but the fact the warlock was now looking at him meant he must have been doing something right so he continued, “You can’t save everybody…and I know Shin ain’t gonna die but if he did happen to bite it…you would at least have the satisfaction of knowing that you tried your best…you got it?” If it sounded as horrible to the Exo as it sounded to his own ears the Drifter couldn’t believe that it meant anything but this was his business partner, someone who the Drifter actively knew was a threat should he lose control of his emotions and mental state.

Cursing in annoyance and slight frustration Drifter dropped down onto the grass, keeping his eyes fixed on the pond in front of them. Despite not being of any class Jack couldn’t help the slight smile at the fact his mind always associated Drifter with being a warlock-hunter mix but the way he was sitting at the moment with his feet out in front of himself and arms crossed on his knees was definitely a hunter way of sitting. Jack easily knelt down beside him, taking care not to get his robe soaked by the moist dirt under his knees. They sat in silence again until Spades broke the silence with a notice for Jack from Ghost that Shin was now awake.

He nodded to his ghost and got back to his feet, “Shall we go see our…mutual friend?” Drifter huffed a laugh as Jack held his hand out to help him to his feet, “He won’t like to hear what I got to say to him but he’ll have to hear it anyway.” Jack turned and headed for the infirmary, the Drifter on his heels until the made it to Shin’s room. Jack took a deep breath and opened the door, “Zyre Orsa?”

They entered the room to see Shin staring blankly at the ceiling, there was no notion he had heard the name. The two exchanged a look before the Drifter closed the door to try his hand at getting the gunslinger’s attention, “Hey, Zyre Orsa,” That got his attention as he turned his head to look at them now but they weren’t sure if it was due to the name or the Drifter’s voice, “How ya feelin’?” A momentary look of confusion and fear washed across Shin’s face as he stared at the Drifter in horror at the use of that name.

Shin tried his best to push himself up into a sitting position only to be made to lay back down by Drifter, “Don’t…don’t call me that…” The panic may have been gone from his face but it was clear in his eyes and voice, “Don’t…please don’t…” The plea was directed more at the Drifter than the warlock but it pulled at something in Jack’s non-existent heart to hear the fabled man with the golden gun sound so helps and defenseless.

He made his way over to the bed and gently took Shin’s free hand in his, “It’s okay…we just called you that so no one knows Shin Malphur is here in the infirmary…” Shin nodded weakly, still fatigued and still coming out from under sedation but he was trying to focus as much as he could on Jack and Drifter that it was making his head hurt, “You’ll be in here for a little while…as far as anyone is concerned you’re a guardian who was around when the Red War happened but that you've been off the grid since then and only just came back…” Taking a seat beside Shin’s bed like he had been earlier Jack leveled him the best he could, “Shin…with the extent of your injury you’re going to have to go through some rehabilitation to get back to the way you used to be…but that means you will stay around the tower, ideally with me and my fire team as a new ‘clan member’,” He had to put emphasis on the idea of Shin being new to the clan but not actually being in the clan as a cover for him, “You can drop the name as soon as you leave the infirmary so…just bear with us okay?” All Shin could do was give a nod in what Jack hoped was an agreement before they were told visiting hours were nearly over, “Try and behave okay? And don’t get hurt too bad when someone calls you Zyre Orsa…okay?”

Again Shin could just nod as they got up to leave, promising at least Jack would be back tomorrow to see him earlier in the day. With them gone Shin had nothing to do but stare at the ceiling until Ghost appeared right in front of his face, “Before you know it the week will be long gone and you’ll be back to being your lone wolf self,” He got no response from the hunter before settling on the pillow beside Shin’s head, “It’ll get better Shin…It always does…” His ghost’s optimism was flat as it heard the low easy breaths that signaled that Shin was now asleep, “It’ll be okay Shin…we’ll make it through this…”


	7. Chapter 7

The week went by faster than Shin could have expected. By day three he was allowed to get out of bed but only when someone was around the help him, As day five came to a close he discovered that he was able to form small flames in his hands again which was a comfort to the gunslinger as it felt warm but not in an easily describable way. It was a warmth that reached to his very core but it gave him something to focus on, something to work on to get himself back to any form of normalcy. Late at night, he would sit up in his bed when he couldn’t sleep forms small flames between his palms, seeing how large it could get before burning out.

As the week closed out Shin was regaining his ability to form solar knives and testing it when Jack came by to visit him at his usual time, “You have some of your light back,” The gunslinger looked towards the door, diminishing the knife to avoid being caught, “They were afraid the poison would cut your light off completely….” Jack turned back to him after closing the door and took his normal seat by the bed, “You get to go home today, You ready?” Home? Where was home anymore? Surely he didn’t mean the Derelict but where else would be home for him now?

Turned out that home was now the apartment he had been staying in but he had his own room now. He looked around the sparsely decorated room as Jack set his discharge bag on the floor, “We can get more for your room later, somethings to help personalize it while you’re staying here…” His room was simple; containing a bed, dresser, armor and weapon stand, and a desk with a chair. Simple stuff, nothing like what was in the warlock’s room but it also wasn’t drab and depressing either.

Shin turned to Jack, a small smile finally appearing on his face, “Thank you…this is the nicest room I think I’ve ever had…” If he was being honest this was the first real home he had since he was a child, since Palamon. He walked over to the bed, running his fingers over the comforter, “Why are you giving me this?” 

He wasn’t meaning to sound ungrateful, he was the opposite actually but this was more kindness than he was used to but Jack just shook his head, “Because everyone needs somewhere to call home, even if it’s a small room…” Jack joined him, sitting beside him on the bed, “For as long as you’re here this room, this apartment, is your home as well.” That surprised Shin. This warlock was willing to risk his own wellbeing to make sure Shin was comfortable while this was going on, “Tomorrow, if you want to…you’re welcome to come with Zaazi and me on some strikes. Our team titan got a contract with the Vanguard to help Sloane clean up Titan some more so we’ll have an open spot on the team,” It was an offer he knew he would be stupid to refuse but also couldn’t if he wanted to get back into being a guardian. Before he could answer though Jack got to his feet, “I don’t expect an answer right away, sleep on it then you can give me your answer in the morning, okay?” The slight tilt of the Exo’s head to one side was indicative of a smile, something Shin had come to learn since he had met the warlock.

He had originally been told that warlocks were unfeeling and all the ones he had met before this had been to the point of terrifying but this one was different. He treated Shin like a person and nothing else. Not a monster, not some legend though he had heard Jack on occasion refer to him as the ‘Man with the Golden Gun’ but he always figured he picked the name up from the Drifter as they seemed to be close. That thought seemed to rile him up, the thought of anyone else being close to the Drifter. No one else knew the man the way he did yet here he was feeling envy over this warlock’s relation to the man known only as Drifter. While he was lost in thought though the warlock had excused himself from the room to go see about planning the strikes for the next day to include the possibility that Shin would be accompanying them. 

They had alternates for when they were down a teammate but Zaazi would love the opportunity to run with another gunslinger, even if she didn’t believe this was Shin Malphur. No one would believe him. They would more likely think the Exo was missing some circuits all of a sudden if he said who this actually was but he was going to have to call him by his name. Hopefully, people just thought it was a name Shin went by and not his actual name. A few hours later and he noticed Shin hasn’t come out of his room yet so Jack when looking for him, concerned that the hunter was going to do something stupid like escape again. Cracking the door open, Jack peeked inside, optics brightening slightly against the darkness, as he smiled upon seeing Shin laying on his side with the pillow clutched in his arms and cloak draped over himself. not bothering to close the door Jack retrieved another pillow and returned to the room, gently laying it under Shin’s head so he didn’t hurt his neck but Shin shot straight up, eyes wide, “Hey, hey, easy…I was just giving you another pillow since you seem so content to hold that one.” The one in his hands wasn’t as plush or fluffy as the one in the hunter’s arms but it would work.

Shin looked to the pillow in his arms before laying it back down out of embarrassment, “sorry…good thing I wasn’t armed…” he looked back down at his hands that were now firmly in his lap, “I want to come with tomorrow…on the strikes I mean…” Why he was having such trouble keeping his thoughts straight he wasn’t sure but he just took a deep breath before continuing but trying to get on to another topic, “What do guardians do for fun around here?”

At the inquiry Jack’s optics brightened again as he looked to the ceiling, starting to think about what they did for fun, “Well, when we’re really bored we see who can make the UGLIEST set of armor with shaders then we go run strikes and missions like that with ugly colored weapons and pink hand cannons…and our swords…and the micro mini sparrows…but really we go down to the city to go dancing, shopping, party or we just hang around the tower doing crucible or I run the gambit…” Jack looked back to him from the ceiling, “So it all depends on what your idea of fun is…” resting back on his hands jack idly kicked his feet, “Why? did you want to go out and do something? Something NOT strenuous?”

Ignoring the tease at the end of the sentence Shin shook his head before getting to his feet, “I was thinking going out…my treat as a way of saying thank you for rescuing me from the moon and taking care of me after that…” It was the least he could think of as a way to repay the kindness the warlock had shown him. After all, no one said he had to rescue Shin from that cave, he could have easily ignored the distress beacon but he didn’t. He answered it, not knowing what he would find but it had led to this even if Shin had been a complete idiot.

Jack got to his feet as well, stretching, “Okay, let me go change since these are usually what I just kick around my apartment in,” The warlock excused himself to his own bedroom while Shin straightened up his bed from his sleeping on top of the covers. By the time the Exo came back the room was straightened up and Shin had straightened up his armor a little more, “Ready?” The hunter nodded and they headed out to the apartment, their ghosts making themselves comfortable in their armor packs, “So…you know anywhere good in the city to eat?” 

Jack looked sideways to him before smiling, “You’re a hunter, everyone in the city assumes hunters like ramen…and there is a really, really good shop down in the city. It’s Cayde’s, the hunter vanguard, favorite and pretty nice folks run the place,” They walked a little slower than normal, more for Shin’s well being than anything else but it gave them time to talk, which was to mean the hunter asked a lot of questions about the tower and guardian life to which he warlock answered the best he could.

The food district of the city was bustling but Jack expected that for that time of the day, Shin, however, was a little unnerved, “So…many people…” No one paid him much if any mind but he still stuck close to the Exo as they worked their way through the streets to the ramen shop. Inside the shop was warm and inviting, a few patrons sitting in booths along the side of the shop but the two guardians took a seat at the counter. Shin had to make sure he didn’t choke himself with his cloak as he took a seat on one fo the stools, looking over the menu he was handed, “wow…do you know what’s good?” He looked to Jack who just started pointing things out on the menu and asking hat kind of things he liked.

While they talked Jack caught movement behind Shin just as another hunter sat down beside him, “Hey you two, mind if I join you?” Cayde turned in his seat, one arm propped on the counter as he handed over a ramen ticket to the lady behind the counter, “Tryin’ to decide what’s good? I like the spicy ramen myself but if you’re not into spice the chicken ramen is pretty good,” Shin glanced sideways from Jack to the hunter beside him; a metallic blue Exo with large blue optics and a horn almost like Jack’s on his head but what really caught his attention was the hand cannon on his hip, “the name’s Cayde-6, What’s yours?” Cayde-6, not a person Shin was familiar with but he smiled before a feeling of slight panic washed over him. Was he about to introduce himself as Shin Malphur, fabled gunslinger? The expectant look on the hunter’s face though told him he needed to provide an answer and do it quickly, “Shin…Malphur…” The name sounded foreign to him but when the hunter patted him on the shoulder, offering to pay for both Shin and Jack’s ramen Shin knew that either he ignored the name or didn’t know about him and Shin was just fine with that.


	8. Chapter 8

The ramen smelled amazing, better than what he had been given in the infirmary anyway. He thanked the hostess before picking up his chopsticks, poking the toppings a bit to decide the best way of attacking the bowl before just deciding to start with the egg and go from there, “I like your style,” Cayde picked up his own chopsticks and dug into his ramen just like the other two were doing. The three guardians ate in silence till their ramen was gone, “Ah, nothing like a good bowl of ramen, especially when it’s cold out,” The Exo smiled at him, “so…you’re Shin Malphur huh?” There was a humor in his voice that said he didn’t believe him, Shin though looked at the two of them, the smirk on Cayde’s face and the slightly humored yet sympathetic look Jack had had him confused, “That is the best joke I’ve heard in a long time. Well, I got to get back to my hunters, if you want to talk I’m in the hangars hunter. Maybe we can swap stories sometime.” He got to his feet, paid the tab for Jack and Shin before leaving, waving goodbye which the warlock returned.

The confused hunter watching the direction he left in before turning back to the warlock, “He…doesn’t believe me?” His voice sounded hurt, why did this hurt so bad? It should have been great that no one knew about, or believed him being Shin Malphur but to just be laughed at and told that his name was the biggest joke that one had heard felt more than a little insulting. As they headed out as well he glanced over to the warlock who kept pointing out things, “Do you think he’ll tell anyone?” Kicking a rock Shin watched the pebble tumble down the road, “About me I mean…” Jack stopped when he heard the tone of Shin’s voice. He sounded like he didn’t want anyone to know about him but that was going to be hard now that Cayde had met him.

The hunter was known for keeping tabs on all of his guardians and that made Shin no different but he was certainly different than the vanguard was giving him credit for, “We’re on our way to meet the members of the clan…It’ll just make your cover more…reliable if you’re able to stay you actually know some of the clan members…” The feeling of panic came back over Shin as he thought about the idea of more people knowing who he was, it terrified him if he had to be honest about it. Only those that he was after ever knew his name and many nowadays knew only the legend of Shin Malphur and his duel with Dredgen Yor at Swindler’s Ridge. Hell, how many guardians knew THAT story anymore outside of the gunslingers? Shin was betting it wasn’t many.

By the time they made it to the meeting spot a buzz was starting to circulate through the guardians that some guy was calling himself Shin Malphur, even Jack’s clan mates were talking about it, “Hey guys! Did you hear the latest story?” An awoken hunter was leaning against the table, an arc charged knife in her hands, “There’s some guy on the tower calling himself Sin Malphur. Cayde said he ran into him at the ramen shop,” An Exo titan off to her side made a slight scoffing sound, “what? Don't believe me?” She sounded like she didn’t believe it herself, but she was taking what her vanguard said with a grain of salt.

“No, honestly I don’t…Shin Malphur? Really? Why name yourself after such an old story?” Jack stalled outside the door, listening to his clanmates discuss the man currently standing behind him. It sounded like Cayde had gone and talked about Shin to his hunters and everyone was talking it as a joke. Putting his hand back he smiled as Shin gripped it tightly as the titan continued, “What if he was actually this guy though? Didn’t Drifter warn us about him?” The Drifter had warned guardians about crossing him? He knew that the man was paranoid but he should also know that Shin would only go after the people who got too far into the darkness and not just random guardians.

It was then that Shin realized all eyes had turned to Jack and as such him as well since ethyl had entered the room, “Hey guys…what’s this about Shin Malphur?” For once Shin was glad his appearance was pretty much unknown by everyone, even the warlock’s two friends weren’t told who he actually was.

The hunter waved her hand back and forth dismissively, “Some guy on the tower is going by the name Shin Malphur. Cayde met him and said he was…” She made the dismissive gesture again, “How did Cayde say it…nothing much special about him?” Her tone was still humorous but Shin was feeling like everything he was, everything he did, was just a myth to these people, “I mean I would like to meet him but…” The hunter didn’t finish her statement but instead just shrugged and finally acknowledging the warlock in full, “Who’s your friend Jack? Did you adopt another kinder-guardian?” Shin’s brow raised at the comment about adopting kinder-guardians but he guessed that it was a common thing that happened in their group of friends.

To that, the warlock made a gesture before motioning to the hunter behind him, “Come on, introduce yourself…” Even through is helmet the look on his face must have been questioning if he was nuts or not but Jack just grabbed his wrist and pulled him forward towards everyone, “Come on…They’re not going to bite…hard…” The hard seemed to be an afterthought as white optics scanned the room, taking stock in who was there and who wasn’t, nodding when he figured his companion would be safe with everyone there currently.

Eventually, with enough prodding from his ghost, Shin stepped into view a little more, worrying the leather vambrace of his one gauntlet. He wasn’t normally this nervous around people but then again when was the last time he around people like this? He took a deep breath to try and calm himself down before looking to the guardians in front of him, “My name is Shin Malphur…hunter and user of the golden gun…” He had heard other guardians introduce themselves like this; name followed by class and subclass, giving people an idea of what they were getting but the other guardians just stared at him before a hunter in the back stepped forward.

He looked him over, Shin even dared think they was sizing him up before speaking, “You’re serious about that? Like, are you really serious?” It was a hunter in a pink cloak and armor set that was questioning him, not that Shin was one to question someone’s taste when he had little to no sense of fashion outside of putting armor together and shading it all the same shader to look somewhat put together, “You’re the guy who is saying you’re Shin Malphur?” The confusion and disbelief in his voice gave way to the rest of the group’s mixed reactions ranging from disbelief to ecstatic from a few of the hunters.

One particular guardian, another titan stepped forwards, eyeing Shin with skepticism, “I don’t believe it.” The plainness in his voice, “You say that but you have no proof. If you want me to believe you’re the legendary Shin Malphur, prove it. Otherwise, I don’t believe you,” The titan crossed his arms over his chest, staring the hunter down but Jack just sighed, putting his hand to his forehead.

“Typical titan idiocy, how do you expect him to prove it? Come on Tank…be serious,” Looking back to Shin the warlock motioned to everyone in the room one by one, “Shin, from left to right, there’s Sofie, the guy in the pink is Lion, that warlock next to him is Montana Carter, the titan against the wall there is Tank…my fire team has already met you but I don’t think you would remember them, you were half dead at that point…so the hunter in purple is Zaazi Genj and the titan beside her is Theo-12,” The respective guardians greeted in turn as they were introduced but other of the clan were starting to join the small crowd but Shin just took a step back, starting to feel anxious; there were too many people, too many chances for someone to take him out, “Shin?”

Squeezing his eyes shut the Gunslinger managed some deep breaths but the urge to run was too great. Centuries of living alone with only his ghost for company made him wary of others, constantly watching his back as well as everywhere else around him. Maybe this was how the Drifter felt when he came around most of the time, maybe that was why the man was so paranoid. He jerked back slightly when a hand touched his, it was warm but not solar warm. The warmth was like that of the strange sort of warmth that radiated from lightning strikes that touched the ground, “Shin, I didn’t expect you to get overwhelmed…but I guess I should have thought more about how you would respond…” He managed to get Shin to sit down while the others all took a step back, sharing looks of concern and confusion, “do you want to go home?” The warlock wasn’t meaning to baby or coddle him but he understood that this sudden jump into a populated area when Shin wasn’t used to it was causing the hunter some serious anxiety.

Zaazi stepped towards after a minute, offering a hand to the other hunter and ultimately leading him to a chair to sit down before getting him some water, “Let’s see if we can start that again…without the criticism…” She cast a sidelong glance to the titan in question before looking back again, “Let’s start simple…Is there anything that would be able to prove you’re Shin Malphur?” There was that question again, the one he had been asking himself in his head but hearing to voiced by someone else, it made a fire he hadn’t felt in a long time flare inside of him.

Maybe it was the fact people thought his name was a joke, maybe it was the anxiety and paranoia that was getting to him but he lost his temper, “Why is that so hard to believe!? None of you seriously don’t believe that I am Shin Malphur?! Do you seriously mean to tell me other people have been walking around using MY name?!” His hands were shaking and he could feel angry tears stinging his eyes. He respected that they all stayed quiet while he ranted but he slammed his hands on the table in front of him; leaving two scorched palm prints on the table, “Why?! Why does no one believe that I’m Shin Malphur, THE Shin Malphur!” His shoulders heaved as he fought to control himself, the russet color of his eyes becoming more golden orange the longer he talked. To say Shin never had control of his temper to begin with, was a stretch. True, he had an anger control issue at times, but the only person who really knew about that was the Drifter.

Eventually, he dropped his hands into his lap and sighed. Taking deep breaths to try and force the still growing anger down He leveled his still burning gaze on the guardians in front of him, “Guess it doesn’t matter if you all believe me or not. I know who I am and that’s the important part,” Shin glanced to the handprints on the table, drawing in a few more deep breaths, “I’m sorry. Rarely do I apologize but…” He trailed off, studying his still warm handprints on the table, “I have lived through the dark age and I have had MANY names, most of which I am NOT going to disclose to all of you but you all have my word that I am NOT lying. I am Shin Malphur.” He pushed himself to his feet as he adjusted his cape around his shoulders before nodding to excuse himself, the sudden feeling he had overstepped a boundary hitting him as the rest of them looked at each other so he just excused himself to go somewhere he felt safe, not knowing that Jack followed him out after saying something to his clanmates.


	9. Chapter 9

Eventually, Shin stopped walking, a sound of frustration that sounded somewhere between a choked sob and a groan escaped his throat “Stupid…stupid, stupid…” He kicked the closest rock to him, sending it flying into a wall before sinking down to the ground, head in his hands “STUPID!” At this point he didn’t care if someone saw him, he was so frustrated with himself that he had an outburst like that amongst people when that was not the way he was that just the thought made him more frustrated. Shin’s hand went to where his Last Word usually was only for him to remember that it wasn’t there when he heard footsteps approaching.

The footsteps staled for a minute as if the person was debating coming over to him, “easy there pal…” Shin whipped around to see the Drifter standing just back from the corner of the alley away he had approached in. The gunslinger watched him cautiously as Drifter took a few more steps, coming more into the light that was filtering through the overgrown trellis above their heads, “I ain’t lookin’ for a gunfight,” How long had the Drifter been watching him? Had he seen him run off from the meeting? Did he know about the outburst he had? So many questions were swirling in Shin’s head it was enough to make him dizzy but he just took a step back to put more distance between the rogue light-bearer and himself while continuing to study the Drifter.

He was making no approach to be hostile toward Shin, none in slightest, but his paranoia was working overtime now and giving him all sorts of scenarios that could happen. His hand again found its way to his holster where he would have normally kept the Last Word but it wasn’t there. Of course, it wasn’t, the guardian had it. Shin had trusted it to them a long time ago and never managed to find a replacement for it, “Hey…” It was all he could manage as Drifter took another cautionary step towards him, hands up with palms held outwards so Shin could see he wasn’t holding a weapon, “You followed me?”

It was half question half statement but the Drifter just glanced around before facing him again and shrugged, “Our warlock friend came lookin’ for ya, asked if I had seen you pass by. O’course I said I hadn’t seen ya so I came lookin’ for ya,” It was a typical Drifter response yet Shin couldn’t help but feel the Drifter was putting him on, “You’re not the type of person who goes off the deep end and isn’t a concern when you do so,” His voice lowered slightly as his eyes darkened, “and I know what it looks like when you are either going to or have gone off the deep end.” That statement held an unspoken threat. What it was Shin wasn’t sure but he knew the Drifter well enough to know when his words were more than they appeared.

Lowering his hands Drifter watched Shin consider him the way a cornered animal considers an approaching person, that he would and could hurt him at any given moment, “How do I know I can trust you? How do I know you’re not going to shoot me?” The more he spook the more paranoid he sounded, and the more he just wanted to run, forget all of this ever happened but he doubted the Drifter would let him run like that. Not after all that had happened, “Why?” the gunslinger’s red-brown eyes were focused intently on the Drifter again. Darting back and forth over him, checking for any and all possible threats that he could pose, “Why?!” Shin’s voice shook as he tried to hold it together but the anxiety that he had just experienced was still weighing on his mind.

Drifter seemed to sense this and took a step back himself. Shin was as much a danger to others as he was to himself at the moment but the rogue had seen him like this before, luckily he remembered how to handle him, “How about we go get a drink? There’s this place in the city, frequented by hunters as their favorite gathering place outside of their hunter club,” The invitation was simple but it was the same way he handled Shin the first time he had heard the hunter became like this.

Shin fell silent for a minute before nodding, “Sure…sure…as long as you’re buying,” A small smile finally played at the hunter’s lips at that but he was still twitchy, still on edge, ‘and no spiking the drinks with vex milk this time though Drifter,” He shifted on his feet, his right side feeling strangely light without the hand cannon there but he had yet to tell why he didn’t have it. Shin guess though that Drifter already knew.

Drifter put his hands up, feigning innocence, “I don’t know what you’re talkin’ ‘bout brother,” Drifter smiled as he motioned for Shin to follow him. Soon they were walking through the city streets in a leisurely manner; Drifter had one hand in his pocket, gesturing to buildings with the other while Shin just followed his gestures. Dark, red-brown eyes flitted back and forth, taking in everything the Drifter said as he watched the city thrive around him. It felt so different from what he was used to, what he was comfortable with. As good as it felt watching the children run past them squealing in joy as they played Shin couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being surrounded, that there were constantly people watching them, “You doin’ alright brother? We’re almost there,” Why the Drifter felt the need to refer to him like that Shin wouldn’t understand but he just nodded as his hands found their way to his sides, fingertips digging into the fabric of the vest he was wearing.

The tall buildings gave way to more squat buildings wedged in-between their taller counterparts as they made their way to the bar that was tucked into a seedier part of the city, “THIS is the bar?” his eyes scanned over the outside of the building. It was nondescript with only the faintest of markers showing that Guardians even frequented the area. There was a well-used sparrow parking area out front with a few spots taken already by some equally nondescript sparrows, “Drifter I don’t know…” the gunslinger’s protests were silenced the minute Drifter pulled him through the door and inside the dimly lit bar.

The place felt familiar in a strange sort of way as Drifter led him towards the bar. Small groups of people crowded around tables, some playing cards and betting all manner of things, all of them drinking some sort of drink. Some people were sitting at the bar, all out of armor, quietly sipping their drinks, a few were smoking, but the fact he was even allowing the Drifter to physically lead him somewhere was something else, “What do they have to drink here?” The bottles behind the bar were coated in a thin layer of dust just like everything else in the bar was.

Drifter took the stool next to him, taking care to not choke himself with his robe the way Shin tried not to with his cape, “The usual stuff: a few cocktails, but mainly hard alcohol like whiskey and rum,” The barkeep himself was nearly asleep at the end of the bar so Drifter picked up what was most likely a petrified peanut out of a bowl and flicked it at him, nearly knocking the awoken into the beer cooler, “two top-shelf whiskeys, on the rocks,” The barkeep brought over the drinks, ducking his head and scurrying away as Shin looked at him, “So…last we had a drink together was…back when I still owned a bar,” Drifter picked up his drink, swirling it around before taking a swig.

Shin followed his lead, taking a swig of the whiskey in his glass. It burned on the way down no harder than his solar light did but it left an after taste he wasn’t fond of, “Yeah how long ago was that? Eons?” a soft smile again found its way across his face as the Drifter lightly shoved him and huffed, “Did…did ghost really tell Jack everything?” It wasn’t like Drifter would know if he did or not but all he got was a shrug, “Of course, nothing is straight forward with you…” He downed his drink all in one go, grimacing at the taste, “Tastes better than that medicine did though…” The barkeep refilled his glass then scurried away again, causing Shin to raise a brow at the behavior.

Staring down into his own whiskey Drifter kept his thoughts silent as he mulled the question over in his mind. Jack and told him as much as he knew about Shin, all of which Ghost had shared with him on its own free will. Eventually, Drifter figured the truth would come out so he might as well break the news, “Yeah…yeah, he did…” He watched a dark look flit across the hunter’s face, “Don't hold it against your ghost. He was just doing what he felt was right. The warlock who took you in, Jack, he’s the same one who holds your Last Word, you know that right?”

Soon the darkness in Shin’s eyes was replaced with silent surprise, “He’s THE guardian?” He gave a slight huff in place of a laugh before looking wistfully into his glass as well, “He’s done well for himself…He holds the Thorn, the Last Word, and that new one…the one the rumors say he forged from Yor’s thorn, the gun of made from the light…” Knocking his drink back again Shin sighed, “he’s probably worried about me…he seems to be like that kind of guy that worries about people…” The Drifter knew Shin was right, that Jack was probably looking all over for him now. Especially with how things had sounded at that meeting, he couldn’t blame him.

They fell into silence for a while before Shin pushed himself to his feet, dropping the glimmer for the drinks on the counter, “Thought you said I was payin’?” Drifter’s smirk softened into a smile, “Guess I better get you home before that warlock comes lookin’ for ya,” He only rolled his eyes in response but didn’t flinch as much as he thought he probably should have when the Drifter put an arm around his shoulders after leaving the bar, “He razed the tangled shore out of grief and Cayde hadn’t even died…he can be downright dangerous, more than you actually,” Shin couldn’t help himself but leaning against the rogue light-bearer’s side as they walked back to the apartment blocks, the cold feeling nice against his constant solar light flaring up inside himself. Maybe someday he would be able to talk with Drifter about what happened between them, what they had been and what would never be again.


	10. Chapter 10

The apartment block was silent when they made it back and Shin’s ghost wasn’t even picking up anything inside the apartment until Jack opened the door to greet them, “You’re home! I was worried something happened to you!” He ushered both of them inside before closing the door. Immediately the warlock started looking Shin over for any sign that he was hurt or in distress, but Shin just waved him off and told him he was fine, “Thank you for bringing him home, Drifter…” All Drifter did was nod and excuse himself, clearly sensing something radiating off the warlock that Shin didn’t notice till he was gone and it was just the two of them. Jack headed back to the couch where it was clear he had been waiting for Shin to come back by the way the blankets and the book were laying on the couch, page marking ribbon sticking out of the end from between the pages. The thought made him feel like a heel for what was probably the first time in his life, that someone had been sitting up, waiting for him to come home just to know he was okay.

Shin walked over after removing his cloak and boots by the door to join the Exo on the couch as silence fell over them again. Occasionally Shin glanced over toward Jack, checking for any sign that the warlock was mad at him but the silence was enough of a sign to him. It was stifling again but the whispers in his head were getting worse with it so he had to break the silence, “Can we talk?” The warlock looked to him after closing his book and directing all attention fully on the hunter but the cold gaze made him uncomfortable “I…I wanted to really apologize about what happened today…” russet eyes searched the Exo’s for any sign that he was even accepting the apology, “I had no right to respond that way to all of them I just…” What did he want? He wanted someone, anyone, to believe that he was who he said he was and though Jack did sound like he did Shin wasn’t sure, “I’ve lived under so many names I…it hit a little harder than it probably should have…having someone not believe me when I tell them what my name was…is…” He got to his feet to excuse himself when Jack grabbed his arm, making him sit back down, “Jack?”

The Exo’s white optics were bright again as he focused every ounce of attention he had on the hunter, “I understand that Shin, I really do. The outburst was a little unexpected, especially you burning handprints into the tabletop… you startled quite a few of the others…but…I guess that could have gone better…I could have handled it better…” Shin was able to handle a lot, but Jack taking the blame for his own shortcomings was not what he was prepared for.

Softly, he put his hands to Jack’s arms, “No…I don’t need…I don’t want you to feel that way. What I did is mine and mine alone, you know that I’ve explained that to you in those letters…but…I hope I didn’t just ruin your relationship with your clan,” The idea of being in a clan was a funny thing to the hunter as he was known as being such a lone wolf and someone who did as he pleased it didn’t make sense. In a way it did though but what would the others think of they heard of him being in a clan? Since when did his image to others matter that much? Yes, it mattered regarding being Dredgen Vale but aside from that, it didn’t matter to anyone else.

Jack laughed as he thought about what the rest of his clan was thinking at the moment concerning Shin being there. How much of a shock had it been to the few newer members and newer lights to see an outburst like that from an unassuming hunter? “Most of them that are in the clan are new, you met the older members from that came over from the old clan but take my word, this isn’t the worst thing that has happened to our group of friends,” the warlock’s optic dimmed as the gunslinger shifted on the couch to be a little more comfortable with one leg tucked under himself, “you smell like alcohol,” He didn’t put it past the Drifter to try and get Shin drunk if that was how they were together but with the state the hunter was in he wasn’t sure if it, “How much did you have?”

"One drink...maybe two..." He didn’t feel drunk, a little buzzed maybe but not drunk. Jack’s optics scanned his entire face as Shin pulled back a little more, feeling his face with the back of his hand to feel how hot he was before blankly staring at Jack, “You’re the nicest anyone has ever been to me,” A sweet yet stupid smile crossed his face. He brought his hand up to lightly brush against Jack’s jaw, “You’re not cold, you’re…warm…” Maybe he was drunker than he thought but that didn’t stop him as he moved to rest his head on Jack's shoulder, finding no resistance as he did so, “I actually feel safe with you…haven’t…I haven’t felt safe with someone in…years,” At least he was managing to not slur his words but everything was starting to build up now as he felt the tender yet arc laced touch of the warlock’s fingers against his cheek, “Jack…I…I…” The words that he wanted beyond all to say to the Exo were choking him. It wasn’t right for him to say it to the warlock, especially being like this. It was something that they would have to discuss knowing who Shin was so in place of saying those three words he placed a gentle kiss to Jack’s cheek, “I would die to protect you.” With that, the gunslinger got to his feet and made his way out of the room to his bedroom before his conscience could catch up with him.

To say he was nervous about the coming day was an understatement since the thoughts of what he had done before going to bed were still weighing heavy on his mind. He didn’t sleep well that night, too many things running through his mind and what sleep he did get was restless as his nightmares came creeping back to him. They were the same for the most part; a flat, dark, windswept area with a constant heavy fog that rolled across the plane. He was staring down the man with the golden gun, staring down himself. It had his heart pounding as he tossed and turned in his bed, this wasn’t happening, this couldn’t be happening…He had only had small contact with the Drifter so why was he dreaming about this again? “N..no…no!” He was watching himself shoot the Drifter through the Drifter’s eyes, the flare of the golden gun distinctive even in that dark space, “This…this isn’t…no…” Hearing his own voice distorted as it told his ghost to bring the Drifter back just so he could shoot him again made him feel sick. His eyes shot open, remembering the only around the nightmares was to wake up.

He groaned and sat up, staring blankly at the clock on the bedside table. It was reading four in the morning, his roommate wasn’t due up for another hour and a half but Shin couldn’t sleep anymore so he got up, deciding to make some tea if he could find it in the kitchen. Quietly he got dressed and headed out to the kitchen, creeping past Jack’s bedroom door so he didn’t wake the warlock up. The kitchen was as quiet as the rest of the living area but his ghost was kind enough to illuminate the space enough for him to find what he was after. After putting water in the electric kettle to boil Shin dug out a mug and the tea from their cabinet as quietly as he could without dipping into the void to do so.

Getting that set up the gunslinger took a seat on the couch and waited for the water to boil, eventually opting to watch the sleeping city down below through the windows, “Shin?” the voice came just as he had returned to the kitchen to start pouring the freshly boiled water into the mug, “What are you doing up?” He glanced over to see the warlock, still tired but clearly more concerned for him than he was for the fact neither of them were sleeping.

Shin looked at him before holding the mug out in a silent offering. Upon getting Jack’s confirming nod that he would like tea too Shin got another mug and prepared to the same way as his and set the timer, “Couldn’t sleep…nightmares…” He gave a dry laugh at the thought, “Can’t live as long as I have and not have nightmares,” The phrase wasn’t meant in insight pity but he could feel it in Jack’s gaze, the feeling of the warlock’s eyes on his back, “I’ll be fine…I didn’t want to wake you up though. I’m handling the way I always do,” Once the kitchen timer ended Shin removed the tea bags, “tea’s ready…” Offering Jack his mug Shin added a few small scoops of sugar to his tea, stirring it in. He knew what was coming, he could see it in Jack’s figure and how he acted. He wanted to ask what they were about but how could he tell him? How could he tell this guardian that the nightmare was between him and the Drifter? He couldn’t. That was the simple answer, he couldn’t tell Jack about it. Or could he? Surely he knew something about the past he shared with the Drifter so would it really be that bad? The only way he would know was if he tried but he would need Jack to swear he wouldn’t tell anyone and that it would be in confidence.

Seeing the hunter deep in thought and conflicted over this Jack placed his mug on the coffee table before turning to face the man next to him, “Shin, I’m sure you’ve done things in life that are enough to insight nightmares but I am here for you…okay?” the Exo never noticed how warm Shin was. The warmth coming off of the hunter was borderline unnatural but what was natural for a guardian? This was a solar hunter, a gunslinger, they generally ran warmer than most guardians anyway, but Shin was warmer than even he had felt a solar user. Jack wanted to ask how he was feeling, but it was answer enough when Shin put his forehead to Jack’s shoulder, “You’ll talk when you’re ready to, I know you will,” Carding his fingers through Shin’s hair Jack got a decent look at how unkept the hunter actually was.

He needed a hair trimming and looked like he didn’t get enough sleep at all judging by the bags under his eyes. The legends toted Shin as either a monster or a saint but none of them ever mentioned Shin as what Jack was seeing him as; a human, “The nightmares…they were…” Just trying to mention the nightmare was enough to make him want to gag, “One of the most common ones I have…of the Drifter and I showing down and,” Shin swallowed hard against the anxiety building in his throat, “I was watching through his eyes that I’m shooting him dead…then watching as I tell his ghost to bring him back just so I could shoot him again.” Shin looked up finally, his eyes locking with Jack’s optics just before the warlock pulled him into a warm hug. He wasn’t expecting the hug, wasn’t ready for it but Shin was so high strung at the moment that all of the sudden, warm physical contact made him feel like he was going to start crying.

Jack just held him in his arms and let Shin get it out of his system, “It’ll be okay Shin…it’ll be okay…” He smiled softly feeling Shin wrap his arms around him. It was clear what one of Shin’s problems was and that was that he was touch starved. When the hunter’s sobs quieted to soft sniffles Jack continued rubbing gentle circles on Shin’s back, “Do you want to go back to bed?” He seemed to mull over that for a while before nodding. To him his room was too cold but it took Shin a few seconds to realize he wasn’t in his room, he was in Jack’s bedroom again but this time he wasn’t injured so he tried to fall asleep. Finally, sleep came to him again just as he felt the Exo running his fingers through his hair soothingly. Maybe he could get used to living a modern guardian life if Jack stayed with him.


	11. Chapter 11

Shin wasn’t used to working with a team. The most he ever did was the times he found himself partnered up with Drifter and then it was only the two of them, so he could only hope the warlock and hunter that with him as a fire team were willing to be patient with him and get him through this. Hopefully, they were used to handling a struggling teammate should the need arise, “So…what strike are we running?” He settled back into the command seat of his ship, the feeling being the most comforting thing he had at the moment. Someplace he was constantly, the closest thing he’s ever had to home until recently.

There was dead air on the comm until the hunter came on, “Warden of Nothing. We have to try and clean up the prison some more.” Jack made some kind of noise over the channel that seemed directed towards the woman but Shin couldn’t figure out if he was saying something or just making a sound. There was a lot he didn’t know about Exos and this one in particular.

As they dropped down onto the metal platform inside the prison Shin felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up when a familiar voice filled the comms channels, “If it isn’t the chosen ones and their ghosts, back to stop the world from fallin’ into chaos?” Before he could get a word out asking as to why the Drifter was on the comms Jack’s ghost cut in with something about it just being the reef, how the escaped prisoners were running rampant, and they were there to quell the chaos, “Well don’t let me stop ya, you’re going to want to kill the Warden’s servitor, thing’s gone whack-a-doo,” The Drifter’s voice cut out after that, only to return on a private channel a few minutes later, “And how you holding up pal?” There was a clear sneer in his voice but Shin ignored it, trying to focus most of his attention on following the guardians ahead of him.

The hunter seemed to know what she was doing, popping enemies long-range with a scout rifle, letting the explosions of the fanatics take out the rest of the goblins and finishing up whatever was leftover. Jack hung back with Shin and helped the hunter ahead of them take down the enemies with a night watch of his own. As soon as the coast around the pods was clear he and the warlock joined the hunter up by the door just as she sliced a minotaur in half with her sword. He was fighting back the urge to run ahead of them all but he told Jack beforehand that he would try and behave himself and not go and get himself killed right off the bat and so far he was upholding his promise, but his line up seemed lacking compared to them. The hunter was running exclusively weapons from the Crucible with an SMG, a shotgun, and a sword slung across her back, while Jack was running exclusively Gambit produced weapons, one for long-range, one for mid or up close, and a heavy that could handle the long-range killing.

Compared to them all Shin had for weaponry was his faithful hand cannon which Jack had returned to him for this mission, an auto rifle courtesy of the gunsmith, and a sword that he had had for a long time after nicking it from the Drifter. Having the last word back in its holster felt strange as he had grown accustomed to not having the weight of it on his hip, “Drifter what are you doing running this show?” He hissed into the private channel only to hear the Drifter laugh but not give an answer which only bothered him more, “You sound like you knew we would be here…have you been stalking him?” Shin growled as he listened to the other two guardians ahead of him. They were debating the ins and outs of the philosophy behind the use of guardians in this strike especially with Variks being gone and that seemed to set the Warlock off more than anything else did.

The prison was quieter than he remembered it being the last time he had gotten inside, “Where is anyone?” Though his voice was a whisper he should have remembered that the Drifter was listening to him, listening to all of them, “Drifter…what do you know about this place?” He might have been the wrong person to be questioning the Drifter but he wants to know what they were walking into and if the Drifter was running intel for this then all the better.

The Drifter just barked a laugh at the question, “Let’s just say you’re headin’ straight for the biggest gunfight to ever happen in prison. heh, I’m a little jealous,” That was something Shin doubted but he kept his comments to himself as he mounted his sparrow to follow the other two, swerving to avoid the oncoming trains. For a while, Drifter stayed quiet till he appeared back on the private channel ringing through Shin’s helmet, “You ever seen the inside of this place before?” He laughed again, “Of course you haven’t, when would you go into the prison of Elders?” His sneer was evident again but when shin didn’t respond he continued, “Somethin’ bothering ya brother?” By now Shin was wonder how much longer he could ignore the Drifter before he would shut up. Eventually, Drifter's tone changed from the snide attitude to one more concerned in tone, “Listen…After Gambit’s done for the day, you wanna come to the Derelict? It’s clear that if you’re gonna be around for a while that we need to get some things straightened out. Sound like a plan?” There was a beat of silence as if the Drifter was thinking about what he wanted to say before continuing, “And if you want I can invite Jack to come with. Just off chance, something goes south between us, deal?”

That was the kind of deal Shin was willing to accept though now was not the time for talking about it, “Sure…I’ll ask Ghost to remind me after our strikes are done,” At that he closed his line to the Drifter just as Jack started talking to him about the upcoming boss fight, “A servitor? That’s seriously the thing running this whole shootin’ match?” He was skeptical about exactly how a single servitor was running the prison, “Where do we find it? It sounds like we need to put some rounds in it,” Jack laughed at that one as did Zaazi when she made a comment that he sounded like the Drifter as he had made a comment like that during Gambit matches.

He had lost count of how many of each enemy he had killed, he was getting sloppy. One-shot per enemy was bringing them down but Shin wasn’t doing as good a job keeping his mind on what he was supposed to be doing. He stalled at the bottom of the airlock to reload his weapons but he was also scoping the area. It was an arena of sorts and Shin could see Cabal and Vex already in it, fighting each other. Jack came up beside him, reloading his auto rifle as he did so, “once we get in there we’re going to be facing the Servitor. With our supers he should fall pretty fast,” he cast a glance to Shin, “Are you feeling up to using your super? You haven’t touched it since we got in here.” He looked between the arena and Shin a few times, “Even if you don’t my Chaos Reach and Zaazi’s Blade Barrage can handle it, I know, we’ve run this nightfall just he two of us and this is easier than the nightfall,” If they didn’t need him why was he there? Shin shook his head to clear his thoughts but did risk telling Jack that he didn’t have this under control and that he hadn’t actually been running his Golden Gun the whole time.

Zaazi glanced over to her teammates just as a nearly invisible flicker of solar light flashed off of her indicating an active super, “Ready to jump boys? It should take a triple jump to make that gap safely, okay Shin?” She clapped him on the shoulder before she took the jump as if showing Shin how he was going to have to perform it to not die. Jack backed up slightly and motioned for him to jump and that he would follow as he had a more controllable jumping style compared to the hunter sudden sharp jumps. Shin rolled his eyes under his helmet before taking the most of a running jump he could get from the small platform and narrowly avoided missing the edge of the arena because he didn’t time his jumps right.

As soon as all three were present and accounted for the servitor appeared, “An old friend is here, Judgement at hand,” The minute the servitor was unshielded and able to take a beating, there was more light energy flying than anything Shin had seen before. Not wanting to be left behind he wanted for an opening before launching a volley of void arrows, lacing the field with tethers and trapping the attacking enemies across the arena before firing the last one directly at the servitor itself. He could hear the choked sound from the Drifter over the comms as well as a soft ‘whoa’ from the hunter of the group and a whistle from the warlock.

The last thing they heard was that the Servitor was summoning Vex reinforcements but he never got the chance as they blew it to pieces. Standing there staring at the smoldering mess that was a Servitor he barely registered that the Drifter was even talking, “Okay…I’m makin’ a mental note never to piss you off,” Jack gave a laugh at that comment as they approached the chest, Shin following close behind the warlock as he was still on edge after the fight. This was more out of his element than he thought it would be but in all he hadn’t died once which the hunter had commended him on even if it meant that he hid a few times while reloading just so he didn’t get brained. Soon they had collected their glimmer and were on their way back to the tower when a private channel request arrived from the Drifter. At first, Shin ignored it, telling his ghost to deny the request but after the second one it became clear that he wasn’t going to stop until Shin accepted, “What do you want?” If it came across as short that was all the better, more reason for the Drifter to shut up and go away.

Today though, the rogue lightbearer’s self-preservation instinct must have been in short supply as he wasn’t taking Shin’s tone as a warning, “Got to say, I always thought you to be some sort of void user but that tether style? Honestly not the one I pictured you as,” When Shin didn’t respond Drifter continued, “You surprised me really. I was expecting you to, ya know, send it down in a blaze of fire,” There was something off in Drifter’s voice, disbelief mixed with what almost sounded like respect. He didn’t know why though. Yes, Shin held mild respect for the Drifter just for the fact the man had managed to stay alive this long but he didn’t feel that the Drifter held much respect for him outside of his skill as the Man with the Golden Gun as well as being the fastest draw this side of Saturn.

The whole time he was listening to the Drifter talk be was thinking of a way to make him shut up. Maybe if he changed the subject he could end the Drifter’s train of thought for once, “Strikes are over…about this meeting you wanted to have…” That seemed to catch Drifter off guard as he stopped to listen to what the hunter had to say, “name the time for it and we’ll be there.” With that, he closed the line without waiting for his response. This was going to be a showdown of a different kind.


	12. Chapter 12

Maybe cutting Drifter off before he could give him a time for the meeting was a bad idea but he needed to get his thoughts together before this was going to happen. A text-only message appeared from the Drifter listing a meeting time of later that evening. Shin couldn’t disagree with it but he would be open to allowing Jack to come with. He wasn’t sure he could face Drifter solo like this yet. He had time to kill between then now and the meeting time, “So…what now?” The awoken hunter made an unsure sound through the comms before suggesting they go get something for dinner. That sounded good, give him something to get his mind off of what was coming in a few hours.

Soon the time came though for Shin and the warlock to go up the Derelict to have a talk with Drifter. The Derelict was cold just like he always remembered it being but the cold felt different now as he stood on the landing zone. It wasn’t like all the times he had been there with just the Drifter but times were different. Things were different. Drifter and he were no longer a thing, he had moved on from Drifter and was sure Drifter has moved on from him as well but he wasn’t sure. Drifter showed a particular brand of kindness to him that he didn’t see anywhere else. Part of it Shin felt was because he was a threat to the Drifter’s life but maybe the Drifter did still care about him. That was a joke if Shin ever heard one. It took everything he had to force down a shiver that shook his body after the transmat wore off. How much cold could the warlock beside him feel? He didn’t know, but he didn’t show any sign that the cold bothered him, “Aren’t you cold?” It wasn’t an important question. He was voicing it more for his own general knowledge than for anything else.

Jack shook his head, the metallic accents on his helmet reflecting the dim lights of the landing area, “Cold doesn’t really bother me anymore. Exos are colder by design to make sure everything runs smoothly so this is not really much different to me,” It seemed to be becoming a habit that Jack would reach out and take Shin’s hand if he sensed that the hunter wasn’t well. Was he able to sense things through Shin’s light? He didn’t doubt it but he didn’t know exactly how in tune with the light this guardian was. He offered him the best smile he could muster before realizing he had his helmet on and Jack couldn’t see it anyway, “Drifter…” He was now looking past Shin to where the rogue light-bearer was standing with arms crossed, waiting for them.

Shin had been so focused on the warlock he hadn’t even noticed Drifter’s approach, he really was getting sloppy. If he had been like this in the field he would be dead by now. The Drifter just motioned for them to follow him but Shin didn’t miss the near questioning glance at the fact he hadn’t removed his hand from Jack’s grasp, opting instead to actually hold hands with the Exo in question. He found no resistance in the gesture, just like he didn’t find resistance the night before when he had rested his head on Jack’s shoulder. 

The decision seemed to surprise even Jack as it took him a minute to react and tighten his grip around Shin’s leather-gloved hand in a proper handhold. Whether it was an act of defiance towards Drifter that Shin was acting like this or something else Jack wasn’t sure but he could feel the solar light radiating through Shin’s glove. It wasn’t an active super but he was well on his way there, “Shin…are you okay?” His voice was a whisper in the comm channel but Shin softly bumped against his shoulder in response as if to try and show him he was all right despite how tired he felt. They followed Drifter in relative silence to the space that had been set up as a living area. The warm glow of the lamps inside the cubicle was as familiar as the cold the of the Derelict but it just made Shin want to hold onto the Warlock’s hand tighter. Once they were both inside; Jack accepting the seat he was offered while Shin stood leaning against the wall, not trusting to take his eyes off the Drifter who had taken a seat on a stool at the workbench, “Okay…it’s obvious you ain’t leavin’ any time soon Malphur…so we need some ground rules in place since you don’t seem keen on honoring our agreement…amongst other things we need to talk about…” There was a sneer to Drifter’s voice again and Shin had half the mind to tell him off but he wasn’t going to as long as Jack was around. This warlock was becoming a strange influence on him.

“What kind of Ground rules Drifter? The tower was never off-limits in the original agreement, neither was the moon, so I don’t see how I might have…” He glanced up as if trying to find a word he wanted to use that wouldn’t aggravate the man across from him any more than he might have already, “...gone against our previous agreement,” He was right, he knew he was and the look on Drifter’s face said he was as Shin continued, “Stop me if I’m wrong Drifter,” He spat the name out with a venom that wasn’t unlike when they crossed paths in the past, “The previous agreement held that parts of the EDZ were off-limits, namely the space around the Emerald Coast but not Trostland, Trostland was somewhere I could be and you know it. Nessus, Titan, basically the planets you have Gambit arenas on were off-limits to me but it’s not like I go to the Reef anyway unless I’m hunting someone,” He passed to give Drifter time to say something if he wanted to. Both of them had to be careful about what was said. They were getting onto shaky ground and he didn’t want to say something that could potentially endanger the life of the Exo beside him, “I’ll uphold the original agreement regarding the places that we listed where I could and couldn’t be, but I have a counter for that,” Shin could see Drifter tense ever slightly as he didn’t take his eyes off of him, “and that counter is that the where I can and can’t go doesn’t apply if I’m accompanying him somewhere,” He motioned to Jack who was now looking at him as well though Shin wasn’t taking his eyes off the Drifter, “That is my new deal, now let’s hear yours.”

Drifter sighed, rubbing his brow, “Listen, I know you haven’t crossed the lines of our agreement but…” He gave a groan and hissed a curse under his breath, “You know how bad it scared me when you suddenly showed up? Last time that happened we were pointing guns at each other and that was when we laid out that agreement we’re discussing now,” Getting to his feet Drifter turned to tell Shin off only to bite his tongue when he saw that the warlock, his guardian, was standing between them. He must have sensed something was going to go down as Drifter could see the void lingering at the tips of his fingers. It wasn’t known if Jack had the capabilities to restrain using the light but if the Drifter was being honest he didn’t want to find out so he took a step back, “Look, kid, this ain’t your fight. This is between him and me,” It was a mistake to bring the warlock into this but with how Shin was responding to his presence there Drifter had a feeling that there was more starting to happen than even he had imagined would happen. Now wasn’t the time for that though. He had to focus on the deal Shin had laid out before him and whether he was willing to accept it or not. It was the same more or less but with one major difference: the warlock was being accounted for, “Fine…fine that works but I’m holdin’ you to it Malphur!”

Shin nodded as cocked his head to the side. A smirk clearly evident in his voice, “Didn’t expect anything less of you, Drifter. Now, what was the other thing we needed to talk about?” The name sounded wrong to him to be saying but he ignored it in favor of keeping his head clear. Right now, of all times he needed his head clear. Drifter shook his head with his head in his hands, mumbling something about this not being what he was wanting this meeting to be like, “Drifter?”

The rogue light bearer cast a glance up before shaking his head again, “Save it…we can talk about it later…when we’ve both come down for this…till then…just go Shin.” Shin nodded, pushed off of the wall, rolling his shoulders like the cold was starting to get to him before he turned to leave. He knew when he was not welcome and this was certainly one of those times. He almost expected Jack to stay behind to talk to the Drifter but he didn’t. He was right beside him as he left, nearly shoulder to shoulder with him and it didn’t bother the gunslinger in the slightest.

As he watched them leave Drifter through about what was happening now. Not only with Shin being nearby where he could infiltrate Gambit and the other workings Drifter had, especially with how frequently Jack played Gambit, but also what was happening between Shin and that warlock. The thought of the two of them being something irked Drifter more than anything else. Yes, he had an idea for this warlock but he didn’t want Shin to be using him, that warlock was his dammit! He waited till he heard the transmat signaling they were gone before he kicked the stool he had been sitting on into the wall under the workbench, “Shin fuckin’ Malphur…he better not think about tryin’ anything with that warlock,” It wasn’t like he could do something about it if they did start to become something. It just made that nasty little monster start clawing at him on the inside. It was jealousy. Drifter couldn’t believe it. Was he really getting jealous over the fact that the guardian, the chosen one, appeared to be getting close to the Man with the Golden Gun?

That thought made him feel sick, that Shin was completely moved on from him and was with someone else. He guessed it wouldn’t be this way if it wasn’t one of the strongest guardians known, “Didn’t get to talk to him about what I wanted to talk to him about…looks like we’ll have to try again…” His head was spinning and he felt sick. Yes, it had been a no strings attached set-up that Shin had had with him but now he felt replaced and that pissed him off. If he hurt that warlock though, Drifter swore he would end the Man with the Golden Gun. He had the means to do so but first, they had to talk one on one. Though catching Shin without Jack around would be a challenge but he had a feeling he knew how to do it. 


	13. Chapter 13

Shin didn’t know what was wrong with himself. He didn’t feel threatened by the Drifter, far from it, but he had for some reason perceived him as a threat to Jack. This warlock was more than capable of handling himself and had proven multiple times over that he could take care of himself. By the time they got back to the apartment, night had started to fall, casting long dark shadows between the buildings. He started glancing side to side, keeping his free hand on his hand cannon while making sure that Jack stayed near in case something happened, “Shin…you’re being awfully protective…” His ghost seemed intent on pointing out the obvious, but that was something he couldn’t lie about. This strange desire to be near him was driving Shin to do things he was sure he wouldn’t normally do. While Jack unlocked the apartment he kept looking around.

Jack was only starting to notice the behavior change after they got settled in for the night; enjoying a nice cup of tea before bed which was slowly becoming a habit for them, “Shin?… Something bothering you? You’ve been acting…off…since we left the Derelict…” Given Jack wasn’t sure about how Shin actually was; Drifter always would tell him that he was a ruthless killer who was quick with the draw and had a twisted idea of what was right and wrong, but as the hunter looked at him Jack forgot what he was going to say afterward opting to instead look down into his tea to hide the fact he was staring. Most people didn’t know what Shin Malphur looked like, even around other people now he had his helmet on; at the meeting with the clan and during their talk with Drifter, but at that moment he didn’t have it on and Jack was at a loss for what to say before he caught himself though he wished he would have thought before speaking. “You know, Drifter used to make off-handed comments about how you were easy on the eyes and an attractive sonuvabitch, his words, not mine…but…” Shin’s eyes widened as the Warlock dropped off towards the end of his statement. Was it possible this warlock thought something of him? Something that went past the simple idea of companionship? It made Shin’s heart pound just thinking about it.

It was a compliment to hear that the Drifter still thought of him like that. Shin glanced away, trying to ignore how his face was feeling warm all of a sudden, “R-really? He…said that? I thought that con man didn’t…think like that about me anymore…” He flinched back when he felt Jack’s fingers brush against his cheek, cold and metallic. He was crying. That was unexpected though before he could scrub away the tears with his hand Jack wiped away the remainder of Shin’s tears with the back of his sleeve, “What were you trying to say, Jack?” His lashes felt wet every time he blinked, he had to stop crying. When had he cried last? It hadn’t been for YEARS at least but maybe his ghost knew differently. He knew he had cried when he found out that Jaren was dead but that was the last time he could recall.

Reaching forwards Shin pulled Jack into a tight hug, resting his head on his shoulder, fighting back the tears again. This was more emotion than he was really used to, it frightened him if he was being honest but being with Jack felt…right. Was that the right word? He felt safe and secure with him, safer than he had felt since he was a small child, since before Palamon was burned to nothing but ashes. These thoughts were tearing him apart on the inside but since he had given up his own con maybe this was what he needed; to be shown how to actually live life instead of what he had been doing, “I’ve been hunting the worst there is when it comes to people who stray from the light but now…you have my hunt, my gun, everything that was me except for my name…so,” He lifted his head from the warlock’s shoulder, “Can you teach me how to live instead of just survive?” It was a loaded question, both of them knew that but it was a question that Shin desperately needed an answer for.

This was something not even the warlock had an answer for but in a way he understood. He had felt the same way after losing his light, that he wasn’t living, only surviving like everyone else, “I can try, I will try…I certainly will Shin, you have my word,” He meant every word that he said but he had to convince Shin of it, “…I need you to look at me Shin, look at me,” he waited to see if the hunter would follow what he was asked to do, “This is going to take a long time to get you actually acclimated to being…around us….the guardians you refer to as children…but…I’ll be with you every step of the way okay?…” Jack wasn’t sure where this was going but he had Shin’s attention so he figured he might as well keep at it, “But I know how it feels to not be living; to only be surviving. I felt it after Ghaul took the light…I really do understand…” He brought his hand up to gently cup Shin’s cheek, the pad of his thumb gently brushing away the newly formed tears as they fell, “I know this is all very new to you and it’s possibly very scary. Not in a terror type of scary but…in the strange, new thing type of scary if that makes sense…”

Everything he was saying wasn’t coming out how he planned it but it was keeping him from jumping right to what he wanted to say which was that he had been falling for the man despite knowing he probably shouldn’t be. Shin seemed to get the idea though as he softly placed his hand over Jack’s, feeling the moderately cool metal against his callous palm. This feeling in his chest was new to him. It was warm yet it was tight feeling like someone was constricting his lungs, “That…that makes sense…” His voice was a gentle whisper as he studied the Exo. For being a machine there was something about him that just made Shin forget that he was even an Exo. Now that they were closer though he could see the carbon fiber weave pattern in the black that made up the Exo’s primary coloring. It caught the light and made him almost appear to shimmer now that Shin was close enough, “He may have said all of that about me but you’re just as attractive…You also have things he doesn’t…like kindness and empathy…Drifter isn’t empathetic, never has been, never will be but you are…and the longer I’m around you…” He paused when he felt Jack pull his hand away, only to rest it on his shoulder. What was he saying? His ghost was silently encouraging him to continue but he was faltering.

Jack was too, without words, was encouraging him to keep talking, to say what he wanted to say without fear. Shin wasn’t sure how to handle this. When Shin failed to say something Jack must have taken it as a sign that he was seizing up emotionally, “Shin…you can talk to me about anything okay? I’m here for you and I want what’s best for you,” The tears in the gunslinger’s eyes hurt more than anything else to the warlock as he pulled Shin into another comforting embrace, “I’m here for you Shin…I’m here…”

Shin’s hands rested on Jack’s upper back as he returned the embrace, “I’m…I think I want to head to bed. Dealing with Drifter always leaves me tired afterward…” It wouldn’t have been a lie if Shin said he wasn’t hoping that he would be able to stay with Jack during the night but he wasn’t going to push it or suggest it. Jack nodded in agreement as they separated from one another, watching Shin force himself to hold his hands in his lap, “Good…Goodnight…” Getting to his feet the gunslinger hoped to make a quick exit but was stopped when Jack got to his feet himself, “Yeah?”

For the longest time, the warlock didn’t say anything and Shin started to wonder if he was just deciding to go to bed himself, “Did you…want to…I don’t know share a bed again?” He was purposely avoiding asking if he wanted to sleep together but Shin didn’t want to answer too quickly to avoid appearing too eager, “I….I mean…it’s…it’s only if you want to…you have a room of your own but…I worry about you with your nightmares,” Now he could see why this warlock was a favorite with everyone from Drifter, to the Vanguard, to even that one warlock that was said to have been banished to Mercury. The chosen one worrying about his nightmares though was not what he wanted, “Did you want to? Sh-share a bed I mean?”

This was becoming adorable, but he knew he had to answer his question or he would lose the opportunity, “Yes!” He resigned himself back, embarrassed about how excited he sounded, “I mean…I would like to, I would really, really like to,” Shin shifted on his feet, suddenly nervous about what had just transpired. He waited for Jack to head for the bedroom before he followed but he diverted to his own room, realizing that he needed his pajamas even if it was just a tank top and a pair of shorts. There was no way, in all the Traveler’s light, that he was going sleep without them. Especially when sleeping next to someone else, that thought just made him nervous.

By the time he got back into the warlock’s bedroom the Exo was curled up under the covers with his back against the pillow that was propped up against the headboard, book in hand and already well absorbed in the pages. He wasn’t sure what to do until Jack looked up with a soft smile, motioning to the side fo the bed he had slept in the night before. It was simple. They weren’t going to do anything, just sleep together, he shouldn’t have been getting so flustered over that fact. Forcing the spark down to where he would have to deal with it later Shin climbed into the bed, snuggling under the blankets, “Comfortable?” His eyes focused sharply on Jack who was still focused on him but had now put his book down in his lap after marking the page with a ribbon, “I was kind of worried about you today during the strikes. Not knowing if you were still in any pain and how well you had healed.” Was there any limit to this Exo’s kindness? There probably was but Shin wasn’t sure he wanted to see it so he nodded while staying as far to his side of the bed as he could. The gunslinger must have been more tired than he thought he was after dealing with Drifter and his usual mess of things that he could feel his eyes start to close, “Sleep well, see you in the morning.” The warlock settled down under the covers as well before shifting on to his side so he could see Shin better, watching the hunter finally fall asleep and hoped that, for once, the man next to him would have a restful night.


	14. Chapter 14

Waking up next to someone was not a sensation Shin was used to and it took everything he had in him to not react violently or negatively. Every sense was on high alert, especially feeling a weight on his side and back. Turning on his side Shin stared in slight disbelief at the sleeping Exo beside him; the warlock's arm draped over him which explained the weight he felt, “Jack?…” Shin was pretty sure he might have been blushing at this point, fingertips gently tracing the outline of the red mark around Jack’s left eye while the storm caller slept. It was an unusual mark for an Exo to have; this random-looking, brightly colored, irregular splotch around the eye socket that trailed back the side of his head, but it must have been intentional, why else would it be there since this was a manufactured living being? A manufactured person…no, Jack was as much a real person as Shin was. Nothing more, nothing less. A still slightly sleepy smile crossed his face as he laid there, propped up on his one elbow, admiring his partner.

His hand staled at that thought. Partner…Shin had never really had a partner. Not Jaren, not any of the shadows, hell, he wouldn’t even consider Drifter a partner but Jack…yeah, he would be willing to consider Jack a partner to him as dangerous as that thought was. Being around Shin would put a target on Jack’s back more than being around Drifter would. Shin had enemies, many enemies and the hunter knew that he was endangering the warlock’s life just having him around him. He wasn’t expecting him at actually wake up though until he looked down to see white optics focused intently on him, making Shin pull his hand back but it just made the warlock smile as he sat up, “Mornin’ sunshine, you sleep well?” The pet name wasn’t expected so Shin wasn’t sure how to respond to it. Sunshine? Was he trying to flirt with him or was it a jest at him since he was a solar user? Shin could feel himself starting to overthink and burrow deep into his own thoughts until a finger dragging down his forehead got his attention, “You shouldn’t furrow your brow so much. It makes you look older than you appear and believe me, you’re far too cute to look old like that,” Okay, THAT was a definite flirt if his voice was anything to go by.

Shin pushed himself up into a sitting position, turning slightly to keep his eyes on Jack, “Good morning to you too. Sparky,” It was lacking in the way of creativity but it was enough to draw a smile from the still sleepy Exo. It was still early, earlier than either of them had to be up so Shin snuggled back under the covers but turned towards Jack, propped up on his elbow, “So…what are we doing today?” Jack hummed, shrugging as he ran a hand back over the ridge that ran down the middle of his head like he was running a hand through his hair, “Staying home all day and saying fuck it to the rest of the Sol system?” Jack laughed again and the sound made Shin’s face feel like it was burning. Why did he have to fall so hard for this Exo? Some people said that Exos couldn’t experience love and they only acted like they could to not be alienated, “When was the last time you actually took a break?” When the warlock didn’t respond it was more than enough of an answer for him, “What don't we take the time to do things around the tower and the planets today? You know…small things…things like…what do you guardians call it, a flashpoint? It’s on Earth right now isn’t it?” The warlock next to him nodded but kept quiet, “You haven’t done most of your usual stuff because of me…I feel…I feel bad about that so let’s go do your usual stuff. Nothing heavy but patrols and bounties aren’t THAT hard or they shouldn’t be,” Shin glanced to him, “Besides, how better to learn the life of a modern guardian than to follow one around for a day while they do their daily business?” There was also the unspoken mention of how much it would annoy Drifter; seeing Shin running around with Jack like that. It would surely burn the rogue to know that Shin was essentially spending the whole day with Jack more than usual.

Jack couldn’t argue with that no matter how much he tried to think of a logical reason why it wouldn’t work he couldn’t so the warlock relented finally, “You know it’s boring really…You sure you don’t want to go do something else? Like scouting areas for beasties? I do that for people too…” Shin shook his head, nothing was going to deter him from what he wanted to do. Seeing he wasn’t going to make any headway by arguing Jack sighed, “All right…all right…you win…but you show any signs of distress while were out and we’re coming right back home. Understand?”

Those were conditions that Shin could accept so he nodded before looking at the clock, “Still really early though, no one’s gonna be up yet…” Jack had laid back down after looking at the clock himself, Shin following him and resting his head back against the pillows. It was clear neither of them was going to be sleeping anymore but neither of them had been willing to move away from the other, “I don’t know if I had a nightmare last night or not…” The fact he couldn’t remember wasn’t concerning as he laid there next to Jack feeling that safe and secure feeling wash over him. After a minute or two Shin couldn’t help but feel a little self-conscience as he moved his arm to see if he was starting to smell. Traveler knew when the last time was he actually took a bath, and this was a downside of being a human. Like all other human and human-like guardians, he did start to get a certain funk and grime about himself if he went without bathing for too long, “Would you mind if I took a shower?”

Jack shifted to glance at Shin before nodding, “Of course, do you remember where the bathroom is?” This Exo must have felt it a need to constantly question What Shin remembered but he took it in stride with a roll of his eyes, “But seriously, I should show you how the shower works. When did you want to take one?” There was something that sounded like an underlying question in the question he was presenting, but Shin wasn’t going to push. It was a big enough accomplishment to him that he woke up next to someone and didn’t hurt them out of shock or fear, and his ghost let him know as much.

“Um…in a little bit…I’m a little too comfortable to get up and leave right now…” Shin gently stretched his arms over his head, wincing slightly as the gesture pulled on the still tender uppermost layer of flesh and skin that was still pink and healing, “Ah that still stings…I thought I would be over the pain by now…” Lowering his arms Shin glanced to the side towards the clock which read half-past five in the morning, time to get up out of bed. Slowly moving the covers off of himself Shin shifted to put his feet on the floor, feeling the coolness of the flooring under his feet, “But to answer your question; yes I remember where the bathroom is,” He pointed across the room to the door as if to emphasis his point but the warlock only chuckled, “you're horrible you know that? It’s only been a few days, I can assure you, I remember where the bathroom is.” It was hard to leave the warmth and comfort of the bed, but they had things to do so he pushed himself to his feet.

The Exo turned to look at him, propping himself on his elbow, “The warmth might help the pain.” Shin’s mind flooded with responses to that statement about what would halve the pain but he bit them down. No need to get himself smacked or worse. “About the shower though, it’s pretty self-explanatory: the handle is pointing down when it’s turned off, you grab it and move it up counter-clockwise and it goes from cold to warm…oh, and towels are in the cabinet.” nodding, Shin headed to the bathroom, closing the door behind him just as he heard Jack get out of bed and start moving around.

He had never really looked around the bathroom before when he was in it the first time, but it was about as eclectic looking at the rest of the apartment with its milky teal walls and white fixtures. The shower itself was against the back wall of the bathroom. Reaching in Shin turned the dial so it was pointing directly opposite from its starting position, hoping it wouldn’t be too hot or too cold. While the water heated up the gunslinger took a look in the mirror, rubbing the back of his hand over his jaw. He needed to shave, badly. A knife wouldn’t cut it this time, he would need an actual razor. He doubted that an Exo would have such a thing, but yet in the first drawer on the right side of the sink was a straight razor. It looked clean and brand new too. Deciding it would be better to leave that for after the shower Shin set the razor down on the counter.

Stripping off his tank top Shin winced as pain tore through his sternum and down through his one arm again, “ah…fuckin’ hell…” He laid the top over the side of the laundry basket before flexing his fingers. The pain had radiated down to his right hand, his gun hand. It wasn’t like Shin wasn’t skilled at using a gun in his left hand but when it came to his golden gun he always summoned it to his right hand, “Guess Jack was right…the light did get affected by the poison…” That begged a question though: why hadn’t he hurt himself when activating the tethers earlier? Shrugging his shoulders he finished getting undressed and stepped into the shower, giving a sigh as the warm water washed over his sore muscles. How long had it been since he had taken an actual shower? He picked up the bottle of shampoo and put some on his hand before working it into a lather with his wet hair. Soon he was satisfied that it had been washed long enough that he rinsed the shampoo out and started washing his body, taking care to not aggravate the wounds any. They were healed but they still hurt and he wasn’t about to do something stupid that could land him back in the infirmary again so he took it easy; making sure he was completely satisfied with the level of cleanliness before rinsing off.

He turned the shower off, grabbing the towel he had laid out beforehand, and wrapped it around his waist and drying his hair with another, smaller towel as he made his way to over to the sink again where had left the razor sitting. It took him a little but eventually, Shin was satisfied with the quality of his shave knowing it will come back in a few days anyway but at least it was managed for now, “So, this is what you look like when you take care of yourself?” He ghost was taking the opportunity to run a scan of him thoroughly to make sure everything was the way it should be, “That pain should subside after a while…it most likely is connected to your super as you were running the golden gun when you got injured so naturally, the dark poison flowed to where your light was most prevalent,” Sometimes he wondered why Ghost never abandoned him but he was thankful the construct still cared about him enough to stick around, “You…do realize you didn’t bring a change of clothes with you…right?” Shin froze. His ghost was right; he had forgotten a change of clothes, “Would you like me to check if he’s out there?” He nodded not believing he had done something so stupid.

Ghost blinked through the door, looking to the door of the bedroom when he heard clinking sounds coming from the kitchen. The bedroom was straightened up but there was also a set of clothes laying on the bed. Floating closer Ghost scanned them only to find that they were, in fact, Shin’s clothes from his own room. Returning to the bathroom ghost informed him of what he found, “He laid out a change of clothes for you but he’s in the kitchen. He must have realized you forgot…” Ghost turned to look at him as they exited the bathroom, “Must be nice to have someone who cares like this about you. He must really love you.” Shin looked up, sitting on the bed in a pair of strides, armor undershirt in his hands, “What? Don't tell me you haven’t considered it. That this warlock might have feelings for you. You certainly have feelings for him. Don’t you?” It was something Shin wasn’t ready to think about, especially this early in the morning so he pulled his top on, put his gun belt on, and headed to the kitchen, grabbing an armor vest as he passed his room. Maybe it was time for them to have a talk about this.


	15. Chapter 15

Jack was standing at the stove in the kitchen, wearing a simple robe and pant set. He was in the middle of making breakfast for the two of them which looked like eggs and potatoes. Not what he was used to but Shin wasn’t going to complain. “You’re going to have to bring it up eventually Shin…It’ll eat you alive if you don’t…” The voice of his ghost was that small voice that reminded him that something was wrong to do. If there was one thing he hated about Jaren’s ghost it was its bluntness and habit of reminding him of things that were better left forgotten. Like that conversation in the bedroom.

Jack turned to look at the table, a soft jolt of surprise running through him when he saw the hunter standing there, one hand on the tabletop, “Hey…I made breakfast…” He grabbed the two eggs that were resting on the counter and cracked them into the bowl, whisking them together while the potatoes cooked; all the while trying to keep himself from staring at the hunter. Shin watched him for a minute before getting the electric kettle to make some tea for them as a silence spread over them, “Did you sleep well?” Casting a glance to the side Jack found himself looking away quickly after locking eyes with Shin.

It was small talk, that’s all it was as he had asked him the same question in the bedroom after waking up. In hindsight though, he never did give the Exo an answer, “Yeah…yeah, I slept well…your room is warmer than mine is…” He was trying to avoid mentioning that the reason it was feeling so warm was that he wasn’t sleeping alone anymore. He had enough of being alone, he didn’t want to be alone any longer. Coming to stand beside the warlock again Shin watched him continue cooking, adding the beaten eggs to the pan of seasoned panfried potatoes and moving the mixture around with a spatula to cook the eggs. Looking over, Shin couldn’t help but stare as the warlock started humming while he worked. It was a song he hadn’t heard before, it sounded optimistic, something you could hear down in the city, “What song is that?”

Jack stopped humming and looked to him, a shy aura about him, “It’s called hope for the future. It's from the golden age, one of the blips of memory that I have from my pre-Exo life as a human…” He looked back to the pan, continuing to stir the food so it didn’t burn, “Its rather ridiculous sounding nowadays, but I’ve always liked the song.” Jack pulled the pan off the heat before going to grab two plates for them.

The way it sounded to the hunter, Jack didn’t talk much about things he remembered about being human which was a pity. It played out two different scenarios in Shin’s head: either no one listened to him when he tried to talk or he felt like he was being a burden since guardians weren’t meant to remember their past lives. Shaking the thoughts from his head the gunslinger got two mugs out of the cabinet above his head and had only just set them on the counter when a sudden hiss and a swear caught his attention. Immediately he was looking for the source of the distress but stopped upon seeing Jack holding his left hand with his right one while a letting loose rather colorful strand of curses, “What did you do?” Before he could stop himself Shin grabbed Jack’s left hand, earning another hiss of pain while he examined the Exo’s hand for damage, “Hold still and let me look you over stupid…” Jack wasn’t wearing gloves, this wouldn’t have happened if he had been wearing gloves but that was all hindsight now.

He just couldn’t take his eyes off Shin’s hands as the hunter looked his own hand over for damage. Jack had had a feeling that pan’s handle was going to break eventually, he just never got around to replacing it. Now he’s glad he didn’t replace it as he watched the other man gently run his fingertips over the tactile pads that covered his fingers and his palms, “It only hurt for a minute Shin…I’m fine. Honest,” It was endearing how the hunter was suddenly concerned by him hurting himself, “the handle of the pan broke…but I’m fine…I swear…” The storm caller forced down the smile that was forming as Shin fussed over him.

Eventually, Jack had to force himself to try and think of something other than the man in front of him and how gentle he handled the potential injury. It was a stark contrast to what he had always heard about the man with the golden gun; that he didn’t play well with others and wasn’t easy to get along with. Right now though, he was being so tender and gentle that it was hard to forget that this was the man that had gunned down a guardian, leaving them as a smudge on a rock. The thought made Jack shudder; Shin was the man that hunted down the shadows of Yor, why was he so different around him? What was it about Jack that changed the man with the Golden Gun? “Does it hurt?” Jack looked back to Shin only to come face to face with him, white optics locking with russet brown eyes; those rich, decadent eyes with hints of copper and flecks of gold that he could get lost in, “Does. your. hand. hurt?” Shin punctuated every word to try and get his point across, “You shuddered when I touched the palm, did it hurt?”

He couldn’t answer him and tell him what he was thinking of, “No…It didn’t hurt, just a reaction to the touch,” Watching Shin examine his hand Jack forced down the nerves. Shin had admitted to giving up everything once he gave him the Thorn, there was no reason to fear him now, “we should probably have breakfast before it gets cold…” The hunter nodded, withdrawing his hands with just a little bit of hesitancy like he wasn’t willing to lose the physical contact. Jack finished plating up the food, placing it on the small dining table while Shin focused himself on making the tea.

Placing the two mugs on the table, one by each plate, Shin waited for the warlock to take his seat before taking his own across from him. For the longest time they ate in silence but it was clear that there the silence was becoming stifling, so much so that Shin couldn’t take it anymore. How was he supposed to start this conversation though? The hunter studied the warlock across the table before taking a deep breath, “If…if we’re going to be living together for a while…I guess you should know more about me…if you want to that is,” This was the best way he could think of; just giving the option to the warlock and see if he would take it, “It’s occurred to me that a majority of what you know about me and my hunt, has come from our mutual…acquaintance,” It took everything he had at the moment to not grit his teeth as he forced that out. Calling Drifter an acquaintance after all this time was a stretch. The man had done him wrong in the worst possible way after everything that had developed between them, and Shin was never going to forgive him for it, “He’s not known for being truthful so I figure this is my way of setting the record straight on anything he has told you about me.”

The warlock stirred the spoon idly around his tea while listening to him. Drifter really did run Shin down to him in the most offhanded and underhanded ways, even going as far as thinking that Jack had been in contact with Shin when he received the Last Word. Eventually, Jack glanced back up to him, satisfied with having stirred his tea enough, “He only ever mentioned your name once and that was in a tape. Other than that he referred to you as ‘The man with the Golden Gun’. He was always afraid that you would take me out once I became partners with Drifter though, told me I should have a whole plan in place for my ghost if it ever came down to that but,” Jack pushed the food around with his fork before taking a bite, gathering his thoughts before speaking, “How about we just…try to get to know each other…Nothing too personal, just like things about life…You don’t have to answer a question if you don’t want to.”He took another bite, waiting for a response from the hunter who sat in silence while mulling it over in his head.

It was an innocent enough deal; take turns asking questions with the option to deny answering if they felt it was too personal. Was Shin ready to be that open with someone though? He had walls so tall inside that he felt they were impenetrable, but maybe they weren’t. It was worth a shot, “Okay…let’s start with the one factor that connected both of us: How did you come to meet Drifter?”

Jack huffed a laugh at that before launching into the story about how he met him on accident while trying to hide from a group of other warlocks and nearly blew him up with a handheld supernova out of fright, “I honestly thought he was going to hurt me…I didn’t know he was in that alleyway but I slid under the grate to hide from them and he startled me…that was just after I rescued Cayde from the prison break at the Prison of Elders so I was still on edge and jumpy,” the storm caller laid his left hand no the table, flexing it a little, making Shin wonder if his hand was still hurting, “How did you meet him?”

How did he meet Drifter? It had been so long ago he wasn’t sure if he actually remembered the first time he crossed paths with the man but Jack was being honest with him, then he should at give him the same respect, “Don’t remember…He’s had so many names…the one time that sticks though is when I met him as Wu Ming,” The story was one he remembered well and telling it was easy as telling any other story about an adventure he had been on, “I walked into his bar, not knowing who the hell he was since I was still the Renegade by that point, but he asked if I was a hired gun, a mercenary. I was getting low on Glimmer so I said I was and over a few drinks of whiskey we struck up a very rocky partnership that held until…well…he changed his name and I changed mine,” His tea was bordering on lukewarm by now but Shin took a sip of it anyway, grimacing slightly when he realized he hadn’t put something in it to cut the bitterness, “After that, I had to introduce myself all over again but it was a dance we became used to.” Shin finished his breakfast, picking up his tea and taking a sip of it, considering the taste of it now that it was cool. He shrugged to himself and took another sip, it wasn’t too bad when it was cold.

Poking at his food again Jack made a list in his mind of questions he wanted to ask, “I…want to get to know you…” he turned his hand so it was palm side up and looked intently at it, “you’re…important to me and I haven’t felt someone be this important to me since…well, since I met Zaazi about a month after waking up,”

The warlock’s smile was genuine, that much Shin could tell, so setting his mug down the hunter sat forwards with his forearms resting on the table in front of him, “Not much to really know about me. You’ve probably heard the stories about me, I was born in the town of Palamon, don’t really remember my parents though. I remember Jaren Ward coming to town and killing our corrupt leader and freeing the town," He paused to see if Jack would comment on that but there was just silence, “he threatened Jaren with death just for coming to the village so Jaren killed him…Things are spotty after that, don’t really remember much until Palamon got burned to the ground and then…” Shin dropped off, glancing to the side to see Ghost settle on his shoulder. It hurt talking about Jaren, it hurt more than he would ever admit. Losing him and killing Yor left a hole in his heart that nothing had ever been able to fill.

Blinking a few times Shin’s attention was drawn to Jack’s hand that was now resting on his, “It’s okay, you don’t have to continue if you don’t want to. We agreed on nothing personal and this was bordering on the personal territory,” This man was so calm and understanding that it still confused Shin, “I don’t have a long story behind me…woke up in Europe, my ghost was willing to let me wander around, test out my light and ask questions to see what I was willing to be before we found my first jump ship and we headed for the city. Ikora was perfectly okay with me not being settled on being a warlock, I wasn’t even sure I wanted to be an actual guardian but then I met Cayde-6. He convinced me to stay and train with Ikora…but for everything else I was just…” he shrugged as he smiled, “I was just in the right place at the right times and had a problem saying no to people…” Shin nodded, wondering if this Exo was willing to share more but Jack figured they had time to get to more, “Shall we get ready to head out? The sooner we get these started the better off we’ll be. Around nine is when most of the guardians start their daily work and by then I’m usually off and going, it’s a lot easier that way, we don’t have to share the kills with anyone if we’re long gone by the time they get there.”

That was a sentiment he could get behind so getting to his feet Shin gathered the dishes and deposited them in the dishwasher. “I’m going to go get changed. No used going out in the armor,” Stretching arms over his head Jack headed for this bedroom, coming back ten or fifteen minutes later in his great hunt armor and exotic boots with his choice of a kinetic weapon already on his back just as Shin was returning from his bedroom himself in full armor, “Ready to go?” It was no surprise to the warlock the hunter already had his helmet on but of course, he did, he was leaving the house, “Let’s go, we’ve got people to help, enemies to kill, and a whole day to spend doing it.” The hunter nodded before following Jack to the door. This is was going to be interesting, working just simple fieldwork with someone, but this wasn’t just someone. This was his warlock, and Shin was going to be just fine.


	16. Chapter 16

The tower courtyard was quiet as they made their way up the stairs. Banshee was already open for the day and had set up his daily offerings but no one outside of the gunsmith and Kadi the postmaster frame was open yet. “Okay, we’ll pick up banshee’s bounties for weapons then it’s about an hour’s trip to the EDZ with our ships,” Jack glanced sideways as he talked, keeping perfect step with the hunter beside him. They were comfortable with each other now and if Jack was daring to say it; it felt like they were in tune with each other, “Hey Banshee,” The gunsmith turned to them, setting the Suros auto rifle down that he was working on, light aqua optics focused intently on the two guardians, “We’re here to pick up bounties. What do you have for today’s dailies?”

At the request Banshee laid out the selection of daily bounties he had for the day, “Hand cannons, sidearms, swords, and solar damage. Sound like your kind of deal?” The gunsmith was strange to Shin how he would seem to not actually notice people and the way he talked about things that weren’t actually there, always crossed Shin as strange, “Anything else I can do for you two?” Jack shook his head, putting his hand up as a parting to which Banshee nodded and went back to his work as the two walked away.

Shin couldn’t help a glance back to the gunsmith as they started walking towards the hangars to leave for the EDZ, “Why does he talk to himself?” That caught the storm caller’s attention just as the reached bottom of the stairs that opened up to the hangar bay. He couldn’t believe that Shin didn’t know, but then Jack had to remember that the hunter probably wasn’t that familiar with Exos.

It took until they were in their jump ships on the way to the EDZ that Jack came up with an answer, “You know that number following his name? The forty-four? That's the number of times that he has been reset,” Spades settled on his shoulder, humming a tune to him to keep his mind straight, “The more an Exo resets the more they lose their memories and have a harder time recalling things. When he starts talking to himself or about things that aren’t there, he’s seeing things that…that aren’t there to us but to him they are…” The more he talked the harder it became for Jack to focus so Spades took control of the jump ship. Resets were something Jack tried to avoid thinking about or talking about. Jack himself hadn’t experienced a reset since he woke up as a guardian, actually, it was a little before that even when he had experienced his last one, “They…can happen at any time, but there are usually signals that lead up to it happening…”

Jack suddenly switched his comms channel off as if he didn’t want him to hear him start crying, not thinking it would raise a red flag to the hunter, “Jack?” There was no response so Shin continued, “Listen; I’m sorry I asked about it. I didn’t know it would make you this upset and that is the last thing I wanted,” Shin quietly wished the warlock would reopen the channel again, but he didn’t hear a word from him until they were standing at the Trostland landing zone and he was checking that he had all the weapons required for the bounties. The sword he had carried during the strike would have to do as his solar weapon since he lacked any other solar weapons that weren’t heavy weapons. In the end, Shin found himself set up with the Last Word for a hand cannon, the last dance for an energy weapon, and his sword.

Glancing over he saw the storm caller making sure his weapons were loaded. He must have noticed this as he locked eyes with him, “All right, let’s…let’s get crackin’. Between the two of us this should go pretty fast,” Before he could get a word out Jack took off towards the church leaving Shin to play catch up with him. When the gunslinger finally found him again the warlock was on his way down into the lost sector off to the left the salt mine entrance, “Hey…I uh…I’m sorry about earlier…” Shin cast a glance in his direction just before pulling the trigger and blowing a dreg’s head off, “resets are something I don’t like talking about…because of the one factor I didn’t mention…and that’s the more you have the more frequent they can become…” Jack’s sounded like he was about to either bite his head off or break down so Shin stepped over the dead fallen to come to be standing beside him, “I’m already at twenty-one…almost all of those are self-inflicted as a way of forgetting what I had done beforehand.” His hand stilled slightly at the near confession. Shin now understood why he had shut the comms off earlier; it really was so he didn’t have a breakdown on the comms channel.

It took a good portion of the day to clear their bounties from the gunsmith as well as a few from Devrim Kay to earn more dusk light shards, “Now where to?” They were currently sitting on a downed tree at the edge of the area of Sojourner’s camp; Shin was watching the area below them through the scope of a scout rifle while Jack just watched the birds fly over their heads towards the Shard of the Traveler. This was a slow day apparently as they had swept from Trostland down to the outskirts before finally stopping at their current resting spot. It had a great view, but it would have been better if they didn’t have that ominous shard that emitted lightning and constant storm clouds.

The warlock shrugged and gave an unsure sound over the comms, “Don’t know…I’ve been all over the planets, there’s nothing really interesting anymore…” Sitting back he put his hands behind him and leaned back, “I wish…I wish I could go back to the places I wandered before the red war happened…I wandered around Mars, Venus, I don’t miss Saturn since there’s Titan, but I want to go back to where I used to wander for days with my only concern being if I was going to get shot by a band of fallen or ambushed by Taken,” Resting the scout rifle on his knee Shin glimpsed over to him for a second as he shifted to look back up at the sky as well, “That’s what we could do…but it would get us in serious trouble with Zavala…” The serious tone at the beginning of his voice was replaced by a faint laugh towards the end of his statement as Jack suddenly sat up to face Shin, “You know what? Screw Zavala’s rules! We know what we're doing, let’s go to the Cosmodrome!” The Exo was on his feet with his full attention of the hunter.

“The Cosmodrome huh? Haven’t hunted there in a while,” Shin smiled under his helmet, this warlock’s energy was about as infectious as his kindness was, “Don’t they monitor that place though? But what can he really do to you if he finds out we’ve been there? Take your jump ship from you?” That got Jack to laugh, holding a hand out to offer help in getting up the hunter but Shin shook his head before proceeding to get up on his own, “If we’re going to do this let’s go. We’re losing daylight as is.” The thought of heading out into the unruled wilds where he was so familiar was giving him a mild feeling of giddiness and contentment as they both jumped to orbit before heading off to the area surrounding the cosmodrome.

Touching down in the forgotten shore, Shin took a deep breath. There were no other lights for miles, it was just the two of them out there, “Now THIS is what I’m used to,” Turning he watched Jack do a complete scan of the area before coming to stand beside him, “I used to come out here and practice sniping on the fallen in the Mothyards, got pretty good at firing off a shot then ducking to avoid having my head blown off my shoulders by some vandal with a wire rifle.” Both of them mounted up their sparrows, taking off across the dry landscape, their path running parallel to the wall of the cosmodrome as they chased the sun across the sky.

Stopping at the edge of the Steppes, the duo disembarked their sparrows, picking off some fallen before heading off to explore with Jack taking the lead, “Come on, there’s a good spot to watch the sunset over here,” The weather was still surprisingly warm for the time of year with just enough of a chill to make Shin pull his hood down over his head a little more. Wildflowers were popping up in patches of green amongst rusted-out buildings and remains of vehicles as the two of them took a seat on top of some rusted out cars, “It’s so peaceful out here…so far from everything and everyone…it’s amazing,” He smiled, turning to face Shin as he felt the hunter’s hand rest on top of his, “I can see why you like being a wanderer, this kind of freedom…it must have been hard for you to stay tied down the way you were while you recovered from being wounded,” By now the stars were starting to appear above their heads, more stars than Jack could begin to count but dark clouds were building on the horizon and moving in towards them, “It is truly beautiful out here,” He may have been able to pass off scooting closer to Shin as getting cold from the dropping temperatures paired with the fact Shin was warmer than he was, but as Jack leaned against his shoulder slightly he softly whispered, “And spending it with someone you care about…makes it even better…” the warlock closed his eyes, feeling the warmth radiating off of the hunter while also trying to ignore how his light seems to be pulling towards Shin. That was something he wasn’t familiar with; this growing desire to be near him constantly.

The two of them sat in peace, leaning against one another when the first drop fell, landing on Shin’s leg, “oh shit…” glancing up quickly the hunter flinched as a drop landed square in the middle of his visor, “Jack we need to move, it’s starting to rain,” He got down off the roof of the car, turning to help Jack get down just as the rain started falling in a more steady pattern. They had almost made it to some shelter when the sky opened up and dumped on them, “Are you okay?” Shin’s hood was soaked, his cloak was soaked at the shoulders and down towards the tail, but he was more concerned about the Exo despite the fact he was starting to shiver, “Are you okay?”

Jack looked up from gathering materials that were dry enough and compiled them into a pile with some dried-out wood stacked up around it. He was making a fire, a fire to try and warm the both of them up, “Yeah I’m fine…” He may have been able to pass as being fine but it was clear his arc energy was dampened when he started having trouble generating enough of a spark to ignite the tinder, “I Guess…I’m not as good as I think I am…” That was concerning so Shin knelt down beside him, forming a solar knife and sliding it into the middle of the papers and tinder igniting the whole pile into a well-formed fire, “T-thank you…” holding his hands out the warlock could feel the warmth of the fire heating his gloved palms, “How long do you think this rain will last?”

"Not long I hope", They had moved a little further back into the building and were sitting with their backs to the wall, Shin was watching the only entrance to the room, hand cannon at the ready to fire at anything that came close to the door but neither of them were saying anything until Shin spoke up, “You know, it’s no secret that Ghost isn’t mine…not originally anyway. He belonged to the original holder of the Last Word…a man by the name of Jaren Ward,” They were lacking for things to talk about with the only sound being the rain pounding on the corrugated metal above their heads and Shin figured that Jack should know the story if for some reason the topic got brought up without Shin being present.

Jack watched as the ghost in question materialized before it settled on the hunter’s shoulder, “Jaren Ward…he’s the man you mentioned once in the letters, isn’t he?” Casting a glance down to the cannon in his hand Shin nodded, remembering well he had included a written note about the Last Word upon making sure Jack got a hold of it. It had been horrible hiding out in that hive infested area of the shore once he found out the guardian was there and well on his way to hunting down the weapon maker, “He sounded like he was a good man and a good mentor too.” Again he nodded, the memory of the night Jaren died starting to play in his head. He didn’t need this right now. He didn’t need the memory of that horrible night playing through his head; the sounds of the gunshots ringing through the air, those sounds that made the young Shin’s blood run cold and still made him sick when he thought about it.

The slight jerk that came when the warlock’s hand touch the top of his was involuntary, but it served as enough of a signal to the Exo; they needed a different topic to talk about. Jack studied their surroundings before his optics came to rest on the words engraved in the side of the Last Word, “Tex Mechanica makes some good weapons,” The hunter’s head jerked up slightly, realizing he had been staring at the doorway and not listening to the warlock all the way, “I had a few before the war happened…a few of them I own again thanks to the foundry replacing the weapons that were lost but I never got the one back that I loved the most. It was a hand cannon, made special by them in conjunction with Banshee,” Now he had Shin’s attention. He couldn’t recall any other notable hand cannons that Tex Mechanica had made outside of the Last Word, “it looked and handled just like the Last Word but was black and silver, it also lacked the gold detailing on the barrel. It was a simple yet hard-hitting…” Jack smiled despite himself as he watched the rain drip from the roof of their shelter, “First and only hand cannon I learned how to hip fire, but I guess it’s why the Last Word felt natural when I held it in my hand. It felt like that hand cannon.” That was giving Shin an idea that he was going to look into when they got back to the city but for now, they just had to wait out the rain. Their silence had just become comfortable when an alert came through from the Exo’s ghost: there were two jump ships inbound for their current location.


	17. Chapter 17

Back at the tower, it was as if Drifter didn't have enough to deal with. Now the guardian and Shin Malphur had gone and run off to somewhere they shouldn’t have been. Sighing, Drifter pinched the bridge of his nose before opening his eyes to stare at the hunter before him, “So let me get this straight…The guardian and his newfound…companion, ran off to the Cosmodrome when they know well that they shouldn’t have…” Cayde nodded, glad Drifter was catching the whole gist of the situation so he wasn’t having to explain it took much.

The cosmodrome was off-limits for a reason and Jack knew it which made the whole thing worse, “And I’m sure you have some ability to get them to come back to where they are supposed to be,” Cayde waited for the man before his say something before continuing, “Look, Zavala is already fighting mad about this, Ikora’s dealing with that but we need to go get the two of them,” This was going to be a hard fight, Cayde could see that. Drifter wasn’t too fond of this idea but he could think of no one else who would know what would work against them to get them to come home. Leaning on the railing beside him Cayde idly watched the bank behind Drifter, giving him an idea, “You help me with this Drifter, and I’m willing to give you anything you need to help this gambit of yours keep runnin’. Anything, you name it. We got a deal?” Cayde held a hand out, optics as bright as his smile as he waited for the response. He was dealing the man an offer he would be stupid to decline.

Drifter rubbed his chin and considered his options for a minute. Having Cayde available like that if he needed something was beneficial, and the hunter knew how to procure some of the more…unreasonable and unsavory items that he used to keep things like the banks functioning the way they should. Blue eyes met the aqua blue optics and he smiled his usual smile which was all teeth as he took Cayde’s hand and shook it, “You got a deal. Now, where exactly did these two run off to the cosmodrome?” That’s a big space, they could be anywhere,” He could see that Cayde’s ghost was already giving him his loadout for adventuring; a trusty Zenobia-D and a pulse rifle that looked like it had seen quite a bit of action in its lifetime accompanied the Ace of Spades which was right at home on his hip. Drifter could appreciate a gun like that. It was fast, reliable like none other and packed enough of a bite that it made it fearsome to come up against, “I got to get some stuff together, Is it okay if I meet you in orbit?” Cayde nodded, waving goodbye as he walked out towards the landing zone. Drifter watched him go before closing up shop and heading right to the Derelict.

Once onboard his ship Drifter cursed, kicking the railing of the landing area as a low growl escaped his throat, “Stupid guardians. If something happens to that Warlock, I’m going to have Maphur’s hide!” Grabbing a breakneck from the rack Drifter checked it for mods before selecting a 21% Delirium to be his heavy weapon. Cayde was bringing the long-range heavy so they needed a mid to close range one to balance things out. HE would always have the Malfeasance if it came down to that, but this was meant to bring them back, not kill both of them. When he was dealing with Malphur though all bets were off and nothing was certain. Taking the derelict to the cosmodrome was a little too risky, might attract unwanted attention so he was willing to bank on leaving it close by but taking a jump ship to follow Cayde. Once he was satisfied with his armor and weapons Drifter departed the Derelict but not before inputting commands to it containing the coordinates of the cosmodrome’s location. Settling in the cockpit of the jump ship Drifter ran over all possible reason why this capable warlock would just run off to someplace he supposedly wasn’t supposed to go, “Hey uh, Cayde, tell me why the cosmodrome is supposedly off-limits to guardian exploration,” The hunter gave an exhausted sound but filled him in on the story of what happened in the Cosmodrome, “So why do you think he returned to the place?” It was a hard question to answer as none of them were truly familiar with the warlock’s backstory.

The closer they got to old Russia the worse the weather got, “Damn, I wasn’t expecting a rainstorm like this! Hopefully, they found cover. Large amounts of water and arc users don’t mix well and I doubt he’s running something other than his arc abilities. Not to mention he’s an Exo,” They had no choice but to touch down in the Mothyards; the widest place they could find on such short notice for a safe transmat location, “Man, not even the Fallen are out and about in this mess…” Cayde turned to Drifter who was surveying the area through the scope of the breakneck, “Get your sparrow and let's go find these two; the sooner, the better.” Drifter couldn’t have agreed more as his armor was already getting soaked so they mounted up and followed the directions from Cayde’s ghost to where the two wayward guardians were located in the Steppes.

Drifter couldn’t stand the way the slick mud made the traction of his boots nearly nonexistent, making him almost slip and fall a few times. The dirt was fine, dusty even and that made for some very thick, very slippery mud underfoot. Most of his attention was focused on his current task of not slipping until Cayde spoke up, “Over there, in that shell of a building. Something is generating a decent amount of heat. With any luck, it’s them,” Drifter motioned for Cayde to lead as they head towards the building in question. The closer they got the more stye could hear small bits of conversation between lapses of silence. It sounded like they were comparing the pros and cons of various weapons; shotguns being the target weapon at the moment as Shin stood with his back to the wall behind them, the Last Word in hand while Jack had an auto rifle out and was scanning the surroundings with it. The two fo them must have been taking turned keeping watch, “Hey you two! You two gave most of the Vanguard a fright you know that?” No matter how hard he tried Cayde couldn’t sound mad at them as he laughed, “You weren’t looking for another one of my caches were you?”

The sudden voice had Jack’s hand tighten around the trigger of the auto rifle, accidentally firing off a round that nicked a concrete pillar near them, “In all the Traveler’s light Cayde! Don’t you of all people know NOT to startle someone like that? This has tap the trigger and armor-piercing rounds! Did you wanna die?!” The warlock never struck him as someone who had a touchy trigger finger, but then again they were out in Old Russia in the middle of a rainstorm. Anything should have been bothering him to make him jumpy. Eventually, Shin diverted his gaze from keeping his eyes on the outside to looking between the Drifter and Cayde while Jack continued his debate with the other Exo, “We’re not anywhere near…that…THING’S location Cayde, what is the big deal about this?!” The guardian sounded like a child that had been scolded by their parent but he wasn’t backing down as he continued to argue his case against the Vanguard member.

Drifter stepped slightly closer, not saying a word but not daring to take his eyes off of Shin either. Both of them locked in a staring contest that neither of them was willing to lose. He could feel it; that gaze that was cold as ice yet searing hot at the same time. It was hard to tell what was going through his head before the hunter finally spoke up, “It was my idea,” Drifter blinked a few times, surprised by the sudden statement that could be considered an admittance of fault, but the statement had caught the attention of the two Exos as Cayde asked him to repeat what he had said, “I said coming out here was my idea. I know this place is off-limits to the guardians of the city but I was the one that encouraged coming out here,” Shin could feel the fight or flight reflex heightening the longer the lapse in conversation continued. It was so quiet, yet he barely heard a ‘why?’ whispered by the warlock. Shin was setting himself up to take the fall for this and both of them knew it, “I’m not saying he should get off scot-free. But Jack shouldn’t be the only one that gets punished should punishment be handed down.” This was unlike anything that Drifter had ever heard from the hunter. This man, the man who would have killed any of them without a second thought not long ago should they have done the wrong thing, was essentially protecting this warlock.

Cayde, now standing under the dry cover of their shelter sighed and looked at Drifter who gave him a look in response before finally breaking his silence, “You’ve caused a lot of shit you two…and you,” He motioned to the wayward gunslinger, “you’re taking the fall for him? The hell’s wrong with you?” Drifter pulled his helmet off, leveling his glare on the hunter in question before giving a laugh, “You’re nuts. You’re both nuts. Now ain’t the time for discussing that though, come on, let’s get going home, then you two can fully explain what got into you guys that possessed you to run off…here,” He motioned around them, not to the building, but to the Cosmodrome as a whole. Even with the helmet on, he could see the emotions crossing through Shin all through his posture and behavior. The guy was a wanderer by nature, a loner, he wanted to be out doing what he was good at and that was hunting down the worst the light had to offer. Drifter would have loved to tell himself that he didn’t know why Shin had suddenly decided to all but settle down with Jack but it was clear as the light: there was something between them and it wasn’t just Shin repaying the warlock’s kindness. No, it was something more than that.

Jack huffed, slinging his auto rifle onto his back, “I don’t need to explain myself!” He kicked the ground, clearly getting more and more aggravated the longer this went on, “Maybe I’m tired of Zavala telling me what I can and can’t do. Maybe…Maybe I just want to be free again! Freer than I am!” Now Shin was starting to question why Jack had decided to ultimately be a warlock. This Exo had a wanderer’s spirit like that of a hunter and, with the right training, would have made a damn fine hunter. One that Shin wouldn’t have turned down the opportunity of teaching the ways of the gunslinger to them if the chance were to present itself. Finally feeling that fact he was defeated Jack dropped back onto the ground, arms crossed over his chest after stomping out the fire. To Cayde though, that meant the argument was over so he turned to Sundance and told her to send word to Ikora that the warlock had been found, intentionally leaving Shin out of the message. That didn’t go unnoticed by the warlock though, “Cayde…why leave him out?” Cayde looked at Jack who was staring at him from his spot on the floor, “You intentionally left Shin out of your message. Why?”

Cayde shook his head, “You’re Ikora’s responsibility, even if you’re an Exo. You’re still a warlock and you know how that works: warlocks handle warlocks hunters handle hunters,” Out of the corner of his eye he caught Drifter shaking his head slightly but the man didn’t say a word. The rogue lightbearer was being abnormally quiet but this whole place was enough to unnerve anyone considering what happened there so Cayde wasn’t going to push it much, “It’s getting late, Zavala wanted you back at the tower by nightfall, so we better get a move on,” He motioned to the both of them, “who’s going first? I don’t care who it is, we’re all going back to the tower. I just need to make sure both of you make it back to the tower,” He leveled a look on Shin when the hunter straightened up before summoning his ghost and transmatting back up to his ship, “guess that answered my question…” Drifter was the next to leave, transmatting away just after Shin did, leaving Jack with the hunter vanguard. Neither of them said a word as Cayde motioned to the worsening rain outside as they held a silent conversation between them that ended in Jack transmatting to his ship followed by Cayde on a slow trip back to the tower to face their punishment which, to Jack, was going to be all worth it since he got to watch the sunset with who he now considered the best gunslinger around. Not that he would ever say it around Cayde to save the Exo’s pride the damaging blow. Cayde was a well known and very good gunslinger, everyone knew that about him if they knew him. Jack himself had seen Cayde use the golden gun himself on the Cabal, but to be compared against the Man with the Golden Gun himself? There didn't seem to be much of a contest, even if he’d never seen the man in action with it.


	18. Chapter 18

The trip back to the city was quiet, Cayde keeping an eye on the both of them through the tracker on his ship to make sure that both of the wayward guardians actually made it back to the city, but no one said a thing. Ikora met them in the hangars, immediately taking Jack with her with a cold look in her eyes that made even Shin shudder. Shin himself found himself being taken aside by Cayde to a small office that he was sure was where Cayde conducted his more official business when it came to handling his guardians while Drifter was nowhere to be seen. Of course, he wasn’t, the guy probably didn’t even come back to the City, “Okay hunter. I’m willing to cut you a little slack with the benefit of a doubt. Do you know WHY that area is off-limits?” There was no malice or ice in his voice. Instead, the Exo sounded tired, like he didn’t want to be having his talk but knew how to get around it and that was to treat Shin as a new guardian.

Shin though, was wondering if Cayde thought he was stupid, but before he could give an answer Cayde answer his own question, telling him about what SIVA was and the hell it caused in that area, “Jack swore he would never go back there again, not after what happened. He was one of the people who went into the chamber for the raid on the machine itself. He killed SIVA but had to lest just say he had to eliminate some...people to do it…” the hunter vanguard sat on the edge of the desk, spinning his knife between his fingers, “I know you took the fall for him. Even without Drifter saying it, it was obvious the way you suddenly spoke up,” He lulled the knife in his hands from side to side, “I’ll have to complete the report on this but,” He smiled, “I’ll let it go as a first-time infraction which means a warning and that’s it. Because let’s face it; you’re not a half-bad guy, and I really, REALLY don’t want to do all the paperwork that comes with punishing people.” Cayde got to his feet and headed for the door, “You’re free to leave, but I’m sure Jack is going to be grounded for a few days. This isn’t the first thing he has done that’s crossed Zavala and gotten on the commander's bad side…but I don’t think he cares anymore…guy’s killed gods without so much as a problem, was only a year old if that when he went into the garden solo and killed the heart to save the Traveler.” With that parting statement, he let Shin leave and followed him out, locking the office door behind him.

With nothing else to do the gunslinger headed down into the city with one destination in mind: the Tex Mechanica Foundry. This trip was nothing unusual as he would regularly bring the Last Word to them at least once a year to make sure it was still in working order. The Foundry stood behind their work and had a policy of maintaining any weapon they built until it was no longer being used by the guardian. Stepping into the main reception of the foundry building Shin surveyed the area to get an idea of the location. Across the lobby two guardians; a titian and a hunter were standing at a booth looking at the foundry catalogs of weapons and ornaments for the season but he already had an idea in mind for what he was after so he made his way over to the main desk where a receptionist sat. The woman smiled as he approached, “Welcome to the Tex Mechanica Foundry hunter. What can I do for you?”

Resting an arm on the counter Shin looked her over then the displays behind her, mulling over in his head how this was going to go down, “If someone wanted to request a weapon to be made. How would they go about doing it?” The woman typed away at her computer before inquiring what kind of weapon it was, “A hand cannon. A friend of mine said they owned it before the war happened,” He could tell she was looking him over as she typed which meant she would have seen the Last Word on his hip. It was no secret that the Last Word was a well known Tex Mechanica weapon. After all, the name of the foundry was engraved on both sides of the barrel, in gold lettering nonetheless. “It was described to me as being the sister gun to the Last Word. Black gunmetal barrel and trigger system with a silver sightline, no iron sights, and a textured, weathered gunstock grip. A simple yet real hard-hitting cannon that lacks the flashiness of its sister gun.” The woman behind the desk nodded, already looking through their catalogs for weapons that matched the description. Shin stood silent as he listened to her click away on the keyboard. This was maddening but he wanted to do this for the warlock. Jack had willingly given Shin back his prized cannon so the hunter felt it was the least could do.

Eventually, the woman wrote down a name on a piece of paper, “We have only one that matches that description. It’s called The First Curse. It was designed as the predecessor to the Last Word, sister cannons as you put it,” Her tone dropped as she looked back at the screen, “the original was lost a very long time ago…we would be able to remake it, but the foundry workers would need something to base the frame off of to get started. We don’t have a frame anymore for a weapon like that,” She wrote down a list of things that were needed, followed by some numbers before handing the paper to him, “Those are the materials that would be needed, the quantities, and of course the foundry price,” the receptionist smiled, “Of course, we offer discounts for loyal customers and since you’re carrying a hand cannon made by the foundry, I’ll see what the discount would be for you.” Shin nodded, folding the paper up and sticking it an empty ammo pouch on his belt to look at it after he got out of the lobby just as the two other guardians present came over, asking about how to place orders so Shin ducked out, leaving while she was focused on the guardians.

Once outside, Shin flipped open the paper again after pulling it out of the pouch, “relic iron, spin metal, weapon parts, an exotic shard, and ten thousand glimmer to cover foundry costs…not as expensive as I was expecting,” He glanced up to his ghost, “do we have any spinmetal?” Ghost searched through all the belongings in his inventory that Shin had which was to say wasn’t much before informing him that he did, in fact, have spin metal but not as much as was needed, “Okay, where do you think we could find some? We’re five pieces short,” He knew if he wanted something like that he was going to have to be prepared to pay for it. There were a few places he knew how to get the material he needed with the Cosmodrome out of the question; hunter dens were one place and the Reef was the other. Going to Spider though meant there was a chance Drifter would find out what he was doing and he didn’t want that. Hunter dens it was then.

Shin dropped into the annex landing zone, trying to force down the sudden surge of anxiety that prickled along his skin as his feet stalled just shy of the archway when he heard voices. One was clearly Drifter but the other one made his breath hitch. It was Jack's voice. “Look, I get that you hate him, and you’ve been warning me about him since I started working with you but,” The warlock stared up at the domed ceiling above his head, “Drifter…you say I’m the one acting differently. YOU are the one who’s been acting different,” He spun around, groaning in annoyance before turning to face the rogue light bearer again, pointing a finger at him, “You know what I think your problem is? You’re jealous that I’m getting close to him. Not that I’m endangering my life, I made that choice a LONG time ago when I started playing Gambit and you said that it would draw the attention of a lot of bad people,” The stormcaller’s voice softened and Shin could just see his shoulders dropping, “I don’t think you want me to be happy…You let me get close to you then dropped it on me that you didn’t want any kind of relationship past being potential allies with me. You hurt me and now I’m trying to move on. So what if it’s with the ‘Man with the Golden Gun’? The point is that you hurt me and I’m trying to move on from that,” Shin quietly stepped forwards just enough that he could see around the corner while he listened to Jack continue speaking, “I feel comfortable with him, we’re comfortable with each other. For once in my life as an Exo, I actually feel comfortable with someone which is saying a lot for someone who's not even human, guardian or not!” There were tears in his voice and it pissed the hunter off to know that this had happened between them; that Drifter has had him and not appreciated it.

Figuring he had listened enough Shin stepped through the archway, rapping on the stonework with his knuckles but said nothing as the warlock turned to face him. Drifter leaned against the railing, not bothering to hide his cold glare, “The hell you doin’ here Malphur?” Shin returned to glare but only for a second before he moved to stand beside Jack, putting his arm around the warlock without taking his eyes off of the rogue lightbearer. The hunter was the last person Drifter wanted to see, especially after the argument that had just happened between the warlock and himself. It was as if both of his past bad choices were both appearing at the same time. It was bad enough he just finished getting told off by the warlock, now a real ghost from his past had become a nightmare in his present, but it didn’t change the fact that he had royally messed any chance of a relationship with either of them, if the chance had been there in the first place which he highly doubted.

Shin shrugged a shoulder and tilted his head to the side slightly, meeting Drifter’s eyes through the tinted glass of his visor and relishing in the fact Drifter couldn’t do the same. “I’m lookin’ for him. Got a problem with it?” They were treating each other the way they would have always would have, but now it felt more like the warlock was a bargaining chip and not a person so Shin had the feeling this needed to be shut down fast. “You said you want to talk. We’re doing it on my terms this time though,” He instinctively pulled Jack a little closer. Fighting down the spark that started to surface as the hunter felt the warlock’s hand come to rest on his upper back under his cloak. Drifter just scowled at him, but Shin ignored it, “Midtown, you and me only, tomorrow at noon,” It was a typical arrangement for them but saying it felt more like a standoff than it normally did. When Drifter started to give a reason why that was a bad idea Shin headed him off, “I know you don’t have many if any Gambit matches around noon. I’ve been watching and I know Gambit is busy in the mornings and afternoons but your matches tend to fall off in the noon hour since you usually don’t pick up the afternoon games till about two or three in the afternoon. You can spare one hour so we can get this hashed out and finally move on with our lives, go it?” He was leaving little to no room for an argument which is exactly how Drifter knew him to be. Drifter mumbled something about him being a hard ass but relented finally. He didn't have much of a choice.

His glaring contest with Drifter would have lasted longer had Jack not given a light tug on the back of his armor to get his attention, “Let’s go…I…I want to go home…” Jack refused to meet either of their eyes, especially not Drifter’s. He wasn’t sure how much of that argument Shin had heard, but now that he had potentially heard even a bit of it Jack knew it would be something that they would have to talk about. There was becoming a lot that they would have to talk about eventually. That just solidified one thing about the Drifter: the man was a disaster waiting to happen. The gunslinger scowled under his helmet but obliged, leaving the Drifter standing here with his anger still smoldering like hot coals. That alone to Shin was more gratifying than standing in the Annex arguing with him and getting nowhere. Neither of them could think very rationally when they were mad at one another so, in a way, the hunter was grateful the warlock was there. The last thing Shin needed was to get banned from the Tower due to losing his temper and finally shooting the rogue lightbearer just because they got on each other’s nerves a little too much. He could just imagine how that would go down as he knew Drifter couldn’t outdraw him in a fair fight. No, Shin had trained hard and died multiple times to become as fast as he was, he had made sure no one would be able to outdraw him. Just out of necessity to stay live back during the age when he was still hunting Yor.

Eventually, Jack stopped walking, having moved so they were holding hands again. The gunslinger looked over to him, silently asking what was wrong without taking his helmet off or saying a word, “I…don't actually want to go home…I’m too uptight after that argument to go home,” turning to look at him Jack smiled but it seems forced, like he wasn’t feeling like he could actually smile, “Let’s go do something, anything. I just…I just need to get my mind off of HIM.” Shin understood that a little too well. Drifter had this habit of being able to stay on someone’s mind even after they were done interacting. Sometimes it took all Shin had to keep the guy off of his mind after a run-in with Drifter just to keep himself sane.

Leaving the Annex they passed through the bazaar, Jack raising a hand in greeting to Ikora who returned the gesture with a soft smile. She wasn’t seeming to hold what had happened against the warlock. Then again, this could have all be normal for Jack and he was used to it. “So, you don’t want to go home, too wired to play the Crucible…how about the shooting range?” It sounded cliche as somewhere to go but Shin honestly couldn’t think of a better way for a guardian to blow off steam than taking their favorite gun and unloading as many rounds as they feel like into some very convincing replicas of their enemies. Not near as convincing as what was seen in the Triumph hall on the Leviathan, but they were still anatomically close to the real thing.

After a few minutes of internal debate the warlock nodded, agreeing that, though it was violent, it was worth a shot to blow off some steam that way, “Lead the way…” Letting Shin be the one to lead somewhere for once felt strange. Jack was so used to being in control that it felt like he was giving up a part of himself, but he knew he was safe with Shin, knew that the hunter wouldn’t lead him somewhere that he would get hurt badly, they had that kind of trust with each other and Jack knew he could trust it. 


	19. Chapter 19

The range was surreal during the late evening hours. Lingering smells of gun smoke, light, and gun oil hung in the air from the previous visitors. Spent shells littered some of the booths; SMGs, Auto rifles, hand cannons, sidearms, even some shotgun shells and LMG casings littered the floor of the booth at the very end of the one range. After letting their ghosts sign in which was standard protocol, Jack followed the hunter into the shooting gallery’s firing booths. “How about some friendly competition?” Even though the visor Jack could tell Shin was curious, “If I, by some miracle, manage to win which means I’m able to outshoot you, you tell me who it was exactly what you were looking for on the moon. If you win which, let’s face it, won’t be that hard for you, you can ask me about anything you want. Anything, no holds barred,” It was tempting, very tempting to say yes to, but Jack was right; Shin would most likely be able to outshoot him which would make it very one-sided so he had half the mind to decline the offer.

He had decided on using a Trust he had swiped from Drifter a while ago but never got around the testing, but he kept an eye on what weapons Jack was using. To his surprise, the warlock went with a hand cannon, but he wasn’t aiming it, he was trying to hip fire it and he wasn’t doing too well. It took everything he had not to laugh with how hard the Exo was concentrating on the task at hand; each shot fired was deliberate and meaningful yet he was deviating off the mark more every time. “Would you like some help?” Jack clicked the safety on the hand cannon before moving to look at him, “Would you like some help? You look like you are…uncomfortable aiming a gun like that,”

Jack looked between the gun and the hunter and nodded in agreement, “Yeah…” He didn’t flinch as the hunter came up beside him, putting his hands on Jack’s and helped him hold the gun at the proper level that was comfortable for him, “Still don’t think I’ll be able to outshoot you…”

At that Shin gave a huff of a laugh, “If you want to know what I was looking for, you could have just asked,” Withdrawing his hands he let Jack try to shoot the gun on his own. He still deviated off his point, but it wasn’t as severe which to Shin meant that it was probably the gun at this point. They stayed there for an hour or so; picking away at targets though their conversation lapsed off to silence until the warlock had calmed down enough that he felt okay to go home. The stars were clear overhead as they walked home but there was close to no moon in the sky. It felt a little too much like those nights back home. “We used to call the nights with close to no moon ‘hunting nights’. Whether we were the ones being hunted or not was usually the question…” He felt Jack lean against his side, lacing their fingers together. It had been a long time since he had talked to someone about anything related to Palamon, but it stirred up a strange feeling Shin hadn’t felt in a long time. It felt like dust being caught up in a whirlwind and it took a minute or two for him to correctly place the feeling; it was restlessness. He wanted to leave and go wander the system and beyond. Maybe, it wouldn’t be too hard to go back to looking for that nightmare. That dredgen was still out there on the moon somewhere. It wouldn’t be right of him to ask Jack to go with him though. This was a hunt, and above all, it was personal.

A tug on his sleeve pulled him back from where ever his brain had wandered while he was thinking. He hadn’t even realized that they had made it home let alone inside the apartment, “If you think any harder sunshine, your brain might actually start smoking,” He turned his head, looking through the tinted glass of his visor into the bright, expressive optics. “I know somethings bothering you. I’ve learned to read body language over the years and I’ve learned yours enough to know when something is not right,” he stopped right in front of him, a tone of knowing in his voice.

Shin bit his lower lip for a second, raising his hands to remove his helmet now that they were indoors. This stormcaller worried about him so much to the point it felt like it was too much at times, yet he found he found it endearing. This was going to require a bit of a lie though. “Ghost got a lead about that nightmare I was hunting on the moon. I need to go finish the job. He’s been left alive and alone too long, nightmare or not, he has to be dealt with,” It wasn’t hard to miss the sadness in Jack’s eyes seconds before he averted his gaze to the floor, the news hitting him like a hive knight. It wasn’t hard to miss what the Exo was thinking: Jack was thinking Shin was leaving him for good. Gently, the hunter reached his hand out, tipping Jack’s head up so he was looking eye to eye with the warlock again, “This should take less than a week. I’ll come back to you, you have my word,” He wasn’t convinced, Shin could tell he wasn’t so he took a step closer and waited a minute to see if the Exo was going to respond. When he didn’t, Shin wasn’t sure why it felt like his heart was breaking.

He never intended to hurt him like this. This was the inevitable though. “Is there some way to prove to you that I will come back? That I don’t plan to ever abandon you?” Not even Shin could believe what was coming out of his mouth, but there had to be something he could do, something he could give him to prove his word. It was then a thought hit him; the scarf that was part of the cowl that he wore with his cloak. It was more of a bandana than anything else, but it was something that wasn’t exactly essential to his armor. Taking the fabric from under the cowl he made sure it was clean and worth giving to someone, before putting it around Jack’s neck, “Hunters don’t do this as much anymore with how good communications are, but back during the dark age you would give something like small a piece of your armor, to someone who you cared for deeply as a promise to return.” He held his breath as he watched the warlock’s fingers come up to gingerly touch the fabric. It was going to feel strange without the bandana there, but he would be able to live through it. It wasn’t like he was going to freeze to death without it.

Jack touched the fabric a few times, feeling it under his fingers before he took a deep breath and looked back to Shin, “Just…” He felt like he was going to choke. This felt like goodbye but he didn’t want it to be, “Come home safely…” the stormcaller moved his hand from the bandana around his neck so he was cupping the hunter’s cheek, “You mean too much to me…I can’t stand the thought of you dying alone,” Neither of them seemed to notice how close they had come to standing until Shin put moved to put an arm around him closing the distance between them as their mouths met; soft lips meeting the cool, unyielding metal of the Exo’s dental plates.

The kiss was soft and tender, yet still managed to leave both of them feeling breathless as they separated. Neither one said anything for a good long while after that. Shin felt like he might have overstepped a line between them but Jack was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact he had just gotten kissed. This was the last thing he had expected to be happening but he wasn’t about to mention to this warlock that this was his first kiss, “I plan to leave tomorrow, but tonight, I want to spend time with you,” He didn’t have to guess on what that sounded like to the warlock as Jack’s optics brightened in surprise making the hunter have to backpedal a little, “N-not like that!” Shin could feel the heat wash over his face. He was blushing, and apparently, the Exo must have thought it was cute as his smile got brighter, “We could…watch a movie or…or something,” Or something was right, he needed to keep his mind off of the thoughts that were trying to overtake his mind.

He was out of his element, but Jack didn’t seem to care as he laughed softly, lightly taking his hand, “A movie sounds good. Let’s go change out of our armor so we’ll be at least a little more comfortable,” Stepping away from the gunslinger the warlock smiled softly again before turning to head to the bedroom, casing a glance over his shoulder to the still slightly dumbstruck man behind him, “You’re picking the movie. Hero.” This warlock and his flirting were going to be the end of him eventually.

Fifteen minutes and a complete wardrobe change later, with the bandana still around his neck, Jack joined Shin in the living room where the hunter was currently trying to figure out how exactly to set up the movie, “Would you like some help?” He set the popcorn on the coffee table and made his way over to him, “Never set up something like this?” There was humor in his voice which earned him an annoyed glare from Shin but that only made Jack smile more, “You’ve got to be smarter than what you’re working with.” Checking the connections to make sure everything was okay they finally got the movie started on the television so they settled in on the couch with the mugs of warm cider that Jack had made but they were sitting closer than they had been before; nearly side by side which allowed Shin to put an arm around the warlock’s shoulders and revel in the feeling that sparked in his core as Jack leaned into him, head resting on his shoulder.

This was a nice distraction from what he was going to be doing, who he was going to be going after soon. Not just the nightmare, but to finally lay everything between Drifter and him bare so they could get past it, he could get past it, and finally, move on with his life. No more dwelling on what could have been. He made that mistake once after losing Jaren, and all it left him with was cold, sharp anger inside him that drove him down the path of revenge. A path he felt he might have still been walking. “I’m surprised you picked a comedy…” Jack was still curled up into his side but was now looking up at him, those bright white optics so warm and lovingly focused on him like he was their only world. “Guess we both could use a little bit of laughter right now but” He smiled, “A rom-com though,” He lightly poked Shin playfully,” I knew you were a romantic at heart,” Jack shrugged and continued, “I wish I could go with you…Ikora said I have to learn my lesson eventually…so I’m grounded for the next three days…unless it’s for strikes…”

He had honestly been joking when he made that comment about them taking his jump ship away but he rested his hand on jack’s shoulder, “It’s fine, I’ll be home before you know it,” Home. It was still strange to think that this was a place he actually considered his home. The first home he had since he was a child. Being this close he could have kissed the warlock right there as he looked up to him again from his spot beside Shin, a soft warm smile on his face before he snuggled a little closer. Jack claimed he was cold, but Shin doubted it. He pulled the warlock slightly closer to him, smiling as the Exo gave a contented sound. Shin was hardly paying attention to the movie on the television now, focusing more on the feeling of having someone this close to him. There was a soft, thrumming vibration that almost had a pulse to it like it might have been Jack’s heartbeat if he had one. If he was close enough to feel that from the Exo, that meant Jack could feel his too possibly. Sparing a glance towards the storm caller Shin’s breath caught as he noticed his partner was sleeping.

Shin chuckled despite himself before getting to his feet and managing to pick the sleeping warlock up. He was expecting jack to be somewhat heavy, being a machine and all, but the Exo was actually no heavier than an average man his height would have been. He carried him to the bedroom, laying him on the bed and pulling the covers up over him. Shin knew that he didn’t sleep in sweats and a t-shirt, but he wasn’t going to change him either. He could feel the heat wash over his face at the thought so he left the warlock to sleep and headed back to the living room to clean up. “I’m going soft…” He put Jack’s mug in to be washed but kept his own out, making some tea in it instead. He was too wired to sleep, too anxious. Taking his tea he settled by the windows, watching the light rain that had started falling. It was going to get heavier, he could tell by the clouds. A soft blue light reflected off fo the window, casting a silhouetted reflection of Shin onto the glass, “Ghost…” The construct stopped where it was and looked at him, its shell clicking and shifting as it considered its guardian. “Do you think that Jaren would…approve of what I’ve done? Or would he be ashamed of…of what I’ve become?” The construct floated closer to him, hovering around silently so it was in front of him looking him eye to eye.

For the longest time it said nothing like always; only speaking when it felt it needed to, but after Shin turned to look back out the window it finally spoke, “Yes and no…” the hunter glanced back to it then back out the window at the rain-soaked city below, “I don’t think he would have approved of some things you’ve done, but you never went inherently evil either…you just walked on that wire-thin line between good and bad…you still do,” Ghost settled on his shoulder, “You still miss him?…” It wasn’t a question, Ghost knew Shin still missed Jaren and it probably did too. Jaren was its first guardian after all, unlike Shin. Light knew why this construct had taken to him; was it out of honor of its original master? Did it actually like Shin? The hunter knew he would never learn the truth, but reminiscing felt nice as they started talking about their memories of his mentor. They were some of the only happy memories he had until recently.


	20. Chapter 20

Jack couldn’t say he wasn’t surprised when he woke up in the early morning hours alone. Sitting up, he pulled his knees up to his chest and stared into the darkness. The bedroom felt colder than normal. He had so many questions but the ones that kept coming mind revolved around the kiss, “What did that kiss mean to him…I know…I know what it felt like to me at least, but feeling and meaning are different…” He looked at his ghost who was still sleeping on her bedside cushion, “I don’t…understand…Does it mean he feels that way about me too?… That it’s mutual?” In some ways he felt that waking up without Shin beside him was better, it gave him the chance to focus on these thoughts and feelings about the man in question without having to worry about confronting them before he had the chance to try and understand them.

Where was Shin anyway? Was he in his bedroom? Was he even in the apartment anymore? Jack didn’t know. He put his hand up to the bandana around his neck; feeling the worn cotton fabric as the memories of the last night came back to him. The movie, being cuddled up to Shin on the couch with the hunter’s arm around his shoulders. It felt like a dream that had happened. He hoped it wasn’t just a dream, he would have been devastated if it had been. Pushing the blankets to the side the Exo glanced at his attire as he moved to get out of bed. He was still dressed in his sweats. That meant he didn’t get changed for bed last night, someone had put him to bed like this. Shin had put him to bed like this. That thought made him flush; that the hunter had put him to bed, not only that, but he tucked him in. Jack slipped out of his bedroom, checking the room next to his only to see the hunter wasn’t there, so he headed out towards the living area.

The closer he got to the living room the more he could hear talking. Shin hadn’t gone to bed at all, he had been up all night. What he was doing Jack wasn’t sure, but his apartment was still in one piece so that counted for something. “Did the transfer go okay?” Jack stopped in his tracks before he realized that Shin was talking to his ghost. Its shell bobbed in response to the question as Shin continued, “So we now have all the materials we need for this. Wouldn’t kill to earn some more glimmer now that I did that, they charged a lot for a small amount, but,” he paused, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. The hunter was tired, even from this angle Jack could tell that much but it was clear the gunslinger had no intentions of sleeping, “I don’t think I’ve been this anxious in a long time, but I can’t take him with me…he means to much to me and I can’t bear the thought of losing him. I lost someone that I cared deeply about once, I can’t lose him, I…I…” his ghost seemed to have said something that Jack couldn’t hear as the hunter shook his head, “I won’t say it Ghost, not out loud, not until I’m ready to say it to him specifically,” Shin got to his feet, leaving the window he had been sitting at to finally go put his mug in the kitchen but stopped short when he spotted Jack standing behind the couch, “You’re up?”

He wasn’t sure why it came out as a question but Jack nodded, still not sure about what he had been listening in on, “Did you not sleep last night?” The hunter shook his head before saying that it was normal for him to not sleep while hunting. It sounded like a horrible excuse and Shin couldn’t deny that it wasn’t, but it was partially the truth. He always had trouble sleeping during the times he was hunting.

A tense and uncomfortable silence stretched between them as neither was sure what to say until Shin spoke, “I was thinking that after I finish this, lay this memory to rest once and for all, we could possibly try for a date?” His voice hitched slightly as he put a momentary pause after posing the question. This might have been going a little fast but what else was he going to do? A guardian’s life could be snatched away in an instant, he knew that all too well as he had ended quite a few of them. The ones that needed to be ended before they got any worse and ended with more collateral damage.

The warlock was caught off guard, unsure about how to answer. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to; he really wanted to go on a date with him, it was just a shock that he would be so straight forward about it. There would be time to decide if Shin couldn’t come up with something. After all, they were planning for this to be after his hunt was over. Shin had said before that he was done, retired, would this truly be his last hunt? He understood why Shin was wanting to do this; he put down more than enough of his own nightmares on the moon to know that the want to put them to rest for good was very strong. “Are you going to be okay? The question held more than what was being said if it was also mixed with Jack’s tone of voice.

He was concerned, greatly concerned, but this was different. Jack knew what it was like and that was why he was concerned. The drive to put down the nightmares was just as devastating as the anger-driven revenge path Shin had been on previously and Jack couldn’t bear the thought of losing him to something like that. “I won’t try to stop you…but I know what its like, the drive, don’t let it consume you…okay?” It wasn’t known if Shin knew about the nightmares Jack has taken down on the moon but that was something that Jack wouldn’t wish on his worse allies let alone the man he was coming to love.

The hunter set his mug on the counter, his hand lingering a little longer than he intended on the ceramic handle as his brain started milling over everything he has done up till now. Neither of them said a single word even as the warlock walked over to Shin, his hand coming to rest beside his but not touching it. They were standing close enough that they could feel each other’s light radiation, not pushing against the other, but spiraling and curling together, turning white at the edges as the light became balanced. Ghost floated silently nearby and watched them stand in silence soon joined by Spades. The two ghosts eyed each other, sharing a silent conversation until Spades floated over and settled on her guardian’s shoulder. Ghost followed suite; settling on Shin’s shoulder and providing silent comfort to him.

Jack moved his other hand to rest on her shell before removing it only for it to come to rest on the bandana. It was clear he didn’t intend to take it off any time soon. “Were you going to return to bed?” The hunter’s fingers twitched as he contemplated put his hand on Jack’s only to hold himself back. Jack didn’t need this right now and Shin wasn’t going to impose anything on him. “It’s still very early…” Glancing from the counter to the man beside him Shin could see the questions in his eyes all about what had happened between them. “Do you want to go back to bed? Or do you want to talk?” The air between them was heavy to the point Shin was sure it could be cut with a knife.

Jack sighed and looked sideways at the gunslinger, “I know you heard the argument between Drifter and I,” His free hand curled into a fist as if he was going to strike the countertop suddenly, but he willed his hand to loosen up and relaxed it, “How much did you hear? That argument, how much of it did you hear?”

Shin thought back to what he had heard and trying to figure the best way to say it to him. Plain and simple was generally the best course of action. “I came into the annex hallway just as you started talking about how much he hated me.” Jack stayed quiet while Shin spoke, listening intently to what he had to say. He recounted all that he had heard while eavesdropping, all the while biting back the anger that was boiling inside him. The argument was still fresh in his mind. He could still hear the ice and hurt in Jack’s voice as he let into Drifter. “He let you in then broke it off didn’t he?” His voice was low, tainted with a malice hurt that only came from having experienced the pain before. Shin hated how he knew that feeling. Hated how he was aware of the pain and anger that the man could cause “He let me in, let me get close to him as well before breaking it off. In a way, I still want to get retribution on him for what he did, but I’m past wanting blood. I was stupid, naive. He told me he wasn’t going to hurt me and I was a fool enough to believe him.” It made him feel weak. This feeling he had when he was willing to open up to someone; it made him feel weak and insecure.

Jack though just watched for a minute before moving to embrace the hunter from behind, wrapping his arms around the gunslinger yet letting Shin choose if he was going to reciprocate. “In a way, I’m glad I met Drifter,” his voice was low as Shin recalled his hands, placing them over Jack’s as he leaned back slightly into the Exo’s strong embrace while Jack continued talking, “If I hadn’t, I don’t know if I would have met you…I mean,” He rested his head on Shin’s shoulder, adoring the feeling of Shin’s light against his, “Regardless I would have rescued you on the moon, but…would we have bonded the way we have?”

It was an honest question. Would they have bonded this way? Shin would have liked to think that they would have still hit it off as they have a lot in common with one another, but he couldn’t have been wholly sure. They stood together for a while, simply enjoying the feeling of actually sharing an embrace with another person until the hunter put his one hand up, stifling a yawn but he didn’t want to go to sleep so they ended up on the couch, swapping stories until sleep took both of them and they fell asleep slumped against each other.

Spades transmatted the blanket over the two of them, sighing as she watched them sleep. “I don’t think I’ve seen him this peaceful in a long time,” She turned to look at Ghost who was floating not far from where Shin was sleeping, “It must be something about your guardian but I can tell, Shin feels safe with him. And he hadn’t felt safe like this in a long time.” Spades could agree with that; her own guardian had certainly been feeling more comfortable. “This will be good for both of them I have a feeling. They have been alone for so long, even amongst others, that they both have found themselves being drawn towards one another.” It was the last thing either of them said for the night as they settled in with their guardians; Spades on Jack’s shoulder, opposite of the one Shin’s head was resting against, and Ghost rested on Shin’s thigh as the hunter dozed, more peaceful than he had been in a long time during a hunt.


	21. Chapter 21

Being startled awake was nothing he wasn’t unfamiliar to, on the contrary Shin was used to being jerked awake from even the deepest sleep when something didn’t feel right. It was the sound that came from off to his side that had startled him awake that bothered him. Jack was sitting upright at the arm of the couch; eyes wide and shaking terribly while his ghost sat perched on his shoulder. “Jack?” Bringing one hand up to his eyes Shin rubbed the sleep from them before looking around to see if he could figure out what had scared the warlock so bad. Their apartment was quiet save for the sound of the rain pounding against the window outside but then he heard it.

The unmistakable rumble that followed the bright flash that lit up the dawn-lit room. Jack pulled his knees up to his chest, a weak whimper escaping him as he covered the sides of his head with his hands. He was essentially covering his ears to protect them from the sound. The hunter’s brow tugged together in concern as he watched the warlock’s ghost approach him cautiously, having gone airborne when he suddenly moved. It orbited around its guardian’s head before stopping in front of him. “Jack it’s okay…you’re safe at home, it’s just a thunderstorm outside, not the Cabal…” Her words seemed to fall on deaf ears as Jack shook his head, curling into a tighter ball as yet another crack of thunder rattled the windows.

In the infrequent light of the lightning, Shin could see how badly the warlock was shaking as well as feel the fear radiating from the warlock beside him and he felt a sharp pang in his chest at the sight. It wasn’t like the pain from his injury, it was deeper, icy, a pain that melted away to a tight warmth. Before he could stop himself Shin scooted closer and reached out to him, pulling Jack closer to him, “Jack…look at me, look at me,” He tipped Jack’s head up before letting the Exo’s head come to rest back against his shoulder. “You’re panicking… As your ghost said; it’s just a thunderstorm. Why is it scaring you so bad?” He traced his fingers up and down the Exo’s spinal column as Jack started crying but if it was from the storm or from something else he wasn’t sure. All Shin knew was that it hurt seeing him like this yet he wasn’t sure what he could do to ease Jack’s suffering.

Not getting anything in response from the storm caller in question Shin looked to what he was sure was the only other being there that would know: the ghost. Spades floated not far from her guardian’s side almost like she was scared to touch him. She seemed to know she was being watched as she turned to look at Shin who raised a brow in question. “It’s a long story…but…the night the Cabal attacked and sacked the city…there was a thunderstorm over the city, so much of one that it actually made detecting the Red Legion difficult until they were right on top of us…” She paused to watch her guardian for a second as another flash of light filled the room; followed closely by the inevitable booming thunder. “We flew into the city right after the assault started while the storm raged overhead. I don’t remember how long it lasted but out of everything he remembers about that night hearing the thunder and seeing the lightning as he fell the two hundred or more feet to the ground, lightless, and without me. That is what stayed with him the most.” The information left the hunter speechless. That had happened to Jack? He had never imagined that all that had transpired and that it hadn’t all just been rumors. Hearing it from his own ghost though as well as what transpired afterward it was a miracle to Shin that Jack was even there with him. “Thunderstorms have the possibility of triggering the memories of that night and, well, you can see what happens…” he nodded, not needing much more explanation as he tried to continue to soothe the still terrified guardian.

It was clear to him that they weren’t going and doing anything today if this was how the day was starting so Shin waited for Jack to calm down enough to potentially get a coherent answer out of him, “Do you want to go lay down? It’d be more comfortable than sitting here at least,” Jack didn’t respond but at least his shaking seemed to have eased off a little; only small shivers wracked his body but he still was trying to get his breathing under control as he leaned against Shin’s side. “Come on, let’s go to bed…” He helped Jack up after getting to his own feet and walked the warlock back to their bedroom, keeping Jack steady on his feet when the thunder cracked again; rattling what felt like the whole building which made progress to their destination slow going.

The bedroom was dark, the heavy curtains muting any lightning that would illuminate the space. Shin led his companion over to the bed, having him lay down and tugging the blankets up over him. As the hunter went to turn away towards the door though he felt a tight grip around his hand followed by a fearful sounding voice, “Shin? Are you…Are you leaving?” He was on the verge of tears; clearly not willing to be left alone and scared of the thought of being left alone at the moment.

The hunter turned, a response on the tip of his tongue until he saw how scared the Exo was. He had been intending to get in contact with Bane, let them know he was still alive and kicking for the most part, but now Shin figured that could wait as he smoothed his hand over Jack’s head, “I’m not going anywhere,” It didn’t make much of a difference to Jack who was starting to shake as a soft sob echoed from him, looking at Shin as if he would disappear if he would leave his line of sight.

Managing to get his hand free Shin walked around the bed, knowing Jack was keeping his eyes on him the whole time, and got under the covers, “Come here…” Jack turned to face him fully, moving closer as Shin held his arms out. The warlock seemed unsure at first but warmed up to the idea; snuggling closer still so that they were laying against each other and wrapping his own arm around the hunter, fingers tangled in the fabric of his shirt to keep himself grounded. Shin wrapped his arms around him feeling Jack rest his head against his shoulder. Occasionally Jack would tremble out of fear when the thunder rumbled outside but Shin was content to soothe him; rubbing his back and reminding him that he was safe at home with him and no one was going to hurt them.

There was going to be no work done today. This was going to be a day for softness, comfort, and talking. Laying there in Shin’s arms, feeling the hunter’s heartbeat against him; it put Jack at more peace than he thought it would. “Shin…” The hunter pulled back slightly, moving his one hand up to wipe away a stray tear before it fell onto the pillow. Jack leaned into his touch, smiling softly as he gazed softly at the hunter. “I’m sorry. I should have told you, should have mentioned all,” He moved his one hand out from under the blanket and motioned to the window, “This.” Snuggling under the blankets again he sighed, “I heard Spades telling you about it…that night was hell…” Shin hummed as Jack gave a laugh that sounded both bitter and hurt “the weeks following were hell too. Escaping the city, making it through Twilight Gap…it was all terrible but I knew I just had to keep going. Spades was still alive and she was still there with me, I just had to keep going, keep moving…” His sentence dropped off at the end which signaled he was done talking for now but after unloading something that was that emotionally dense it felt right to lapse into silence.

Through the whole thing, Shin just took in what he was saying while also thinking about how he had been when the light disappeared. He had been with the other shadows and they stayed that way, just the six of them knowing that it was what was safest in their given situation. As far as he was aware Ghost was the only one that had remained alert and alive; all the others’ ghosts had gone cold. So Shin kept Ghost hidden at all costs and used what he learned and remembered from the time before he was a guardian to make sure he survived. To help ensure all of them survived. The hunter blinked, aware suddenly that he had been losing himself in his thoughts again. Going to move Shin realized that his one arm, the one under Jack’s head, had fallen asleep. That was going to require a change in position to fix, but the only other position was one that he wasn’t sure they were close enough for. Anything was going to be better than having a perpetually numb arm and hand though. “Hey, can we…move a little?” Jack stared up at him questioningly waiting for Shin to continue. “My arm is falling asleep…” That made the warlock laugh a little before he smiled and pushed himself up and away from his hunter so Shin could recall his arm all the way.

Finally free the gunslinger waited for the feeling to return to his arm before laying back down but this time on his back, “This will hopefully be a little more comfortable,” There was no hesitation as Jack laid back down, head resting on his shoulder. They lapsed into silence again letting the sounds of the rain outside and the peace between them be enough for them both. Shin moved his right hand to take Jack’s free hand in his, lacing their fingers together. “You don’t have to apologize. That time was terrible for everyone, you were at the epicenter though,” The Exo nodded meekly before snuggling slightly closer and glancing up to see if he had drawn any kind of response from the hunter.

Shin shifted his gaze down from the ceiling to lock eyes with the warlock who quickly averted his eyes away from him but it drew a smile from him. Jack was being bashful and as much as he wanted to pull him into a kiss he refrained, afraid he would scare the warlock off so he just kept their conversation going. “I don’t have nightmares about that night, but I do have them about…about the night that Palamon burned,” Was he really ready to go there? To tell this to him and hope he wouldn’t take pity on him? He wouldn’t know unless he tried and so he continued, “It’s one of those nightmares I see vividly through the eyes of a child. Scared, with nothing but heat and fire surrounding me and the looming figure that would become the darkest being I would ever know. All he did was smile at me and walk away. Made no motion to harm me at all unlike he did everyone else,” He paused a swallowed hard. This was always painful. It never failed to make him tense of feel like he was going to choke up. The feeling of a hand gently resting on his other shoulder brought him back to try and continue, “All I really remember is Jaren finding me after that, both in memory and in the nightmare. I had never heard him sound so scared and angered. He picked me up since I couldn’t stop coughing from all the smoke I inhaled, though the nightmare ends with standing in a dark forest hearing the sound of the Last Word followed by Thorn and the cold dread of knowing Jaren was dead.”

He couldn’t go on with this, he couldn’t and Jack knew it. Maybe though, they could talk about something else. Or someone else, “Who was Jaren?” This felt like a repeat question, and in some ways it was, but he wanted to hear about him from Shin. “He must have been someone very…valuable to you that you hold onto his memory,” He pushed himself up slightly to better look at the hunter who was now watching him.

The hunter’s mind buzzed as he tried to figure out how to describe Jaren. “He was the greatest hunter I ever knew. Jaren was…He was not just the man I consider my third father…he was the only person I would consider a dad,” Jack settled back down and listened, taking in what Shin said. They were both opening up to one another and, as they talked, it felt as if they were finally getting to really know each other.

Shin watched as Jack’s optics dimmed before his eyes closed and his breathing leveled out. “Are you going to go back to sleep too?” He glanced to the side to see Ghost watching him before he motioned for the construct to come closer, “Are you going to go to sleep? If so I’ll wake you when it’s almost time to go meet with Drifter…” There was a fondness to the ghost’s voice Shin gently ran his fingers over Jack’s head; from his horn, back down the ridge behind it to the back of his head. He wasn’t sure if this was comforting to the Exo but it felt like it might have been and Jack wasn’t telling him to stop so he kept doing it. “I’m glad you’ve found someone,” It turned away from them, it’s shell tittering with normally unseen anxiety, “I was worried you would kill yourself doing what you do, or did. But…With him, you have softened up a little. You smile more and not a forced smile, it’s a smile like I haven’t seen since…since you were a child. It’s…nice.”

That was a new revelation to him, but Shin could feel his eyes starting to close as the tender pulsing feeling of their lights starting to meld together again lulled him into such a comfortable feeling that the hunter let himself slip under into the peacefulness of sleep, knowing that Ghost would keep its word and wake him with the time for their meeting approached.


End file.
